Overwatch Sombra's ARG might bring back some unwanted flashbacks to fans who experienced the incredibly long wait for the character's release. However, it seems like the scars of her puzzles still seem to haunt players based on search results.
The Most Searched Hero In The Game
Blizzard's first-person shooter has drawn in fans from all over the world with players searching for the various characters on the internet. In line with this, Kotaku reports the most searched hero across the United States is everyone's favorite latina hacker, Sombra. She is the most searched hero across all 50 states, which might have been influenced by her long-dragging alternate reality game (ARG).
A previous report by PC Gamer explains the rage and agony that players experienced during the eight-month long anticipation of a new hero. For those unfamiliar, Blizzard launched an activity out of the game wherein they would drop clues that would supposedly tell the fanbase more about the character. The whole activity was a great way for players to bond over a common factor but things quickly took a turn for the worse when the studio began releasing countdowns.
Overwatch Sombra's ARG Is An Event To Remember
One infamous website called "A Moment In Crime" (which now seems to be inaccessible) had a two-month timer. It was around this time when someone leaked an image of the new hero, which had players believe that she would be released after the countdown ended. In spite of this, the fanbase exploded after discovering that it only lead to more clues.
After a few more countdowns and puzzles, the hero finally made her grand debut at BlizzCon. Overall, the ARG received a lot of mixed responses from fans and critics alike. To their defense, Blizzard claimed that they never expected the activities to gain as much exposure as it did.
The studio mentioned that they have learned from the experience and it seems like they are putting this into practice seeing as how they properly introduced the 24th hero, Orisa. Despite the reactions, Overwatch Sombra's ARG will possibly go down in Blizzard history as one of the most controversial events they made.
