After just completing their Gundam Wing crossover, Overwatch 2 surprised everyone with a Street Fighter 6 collaboration that’s currently going on now.
We recently had the chance to interview Overwatch Art Director Dion Rogers and Azuki Art Director and Former Character Art Director Arnold Tsang about the collab, working with Capcom and if we could see more in Street Fighter 6 itself.
Since we’ve seen multiple references to the genre in the past, we had to ask about the fighting game culture at Activision Blizzard, and there’s apparently quite a few big fans / players at the studio.
We also had to question them about the possibility of seeing Overwatch 2 content in Street Fighter 6 though their answer is probably what you expect.
You can check out the first part of our interview with the Overwatch developers who helped bring the Street Fighter 6 crossover to life below.
DarkHorse: Do you guys play Street Fighter 6? And if so, which characters do you use, and what do you think of the game?
Dion Rogers: We play a ton of Street Fighter on the Overwatch team, especially when SF6 came out a couple of years ago. My main is Chun-Li. We all love Street Fighter on the team.
Arnold Tsang: It is hard to pick a main, since I’ve been a huge fan for many years. I learned how to draw by mimicking the work of artists at Capcom.
Before I joined the Overwatch team, I was one of the founders of Udon Comics and was excited to get the IP rights to Street Fighter. I helped illustrate the first few SF comics before I moved into game art.
When we were first developing Overwatch, Street Fighter IV was super big, and we’d play it during our lunch breaks in the office. We even used to host tournaments.
Dion Rogers: Some of our devs, like Alec Dawson, have even gone to Evo to compete in Street Fighter tournaments.
DarkHorse: Do you have a favorite skin out of the set?
Dion Rogers: Since I’m a Chun-Li main and I’ve been playing a lot of Juno lately, that’s definitely my favorite combination.
I also was pleased with how Winston and Blanka turned out. It wasn’t easy putting Winston in overalls, but we found a way to make it work. Plus we got to show off how buff his arms are, which Overwatch fans don’t normally see. But I truly love how all of them turned out.
Arnold Tsang: I echo that. While I didn’t work on the skin designs myself, the team nailed every single pairing perfectly.
Though if I had to pick a favorite, it would be Kiriko and Juri. I had drawn the first concept of Kiriko before she became a Hero in Overwatch, and the artist who made this skin put a lot of work into cracking the code. It turned out so well. The outfit incorporates a lot of Juri’s iconic elements, like her flowing pants, while staying true to Kiriko’s abilities and form.
DarkHorse: How did the SF6 collaboration come about and why now?
Dion Rogers: We like to work on collabs that the whole team can get excited about. I forget exactly who reached out first, us or Capcom, but when the Overwatch team realized we’d be working on Street Fighter, everybody was overwhelmingly excited. We’ve been in discussion, planning, and implementation for about a year now. It just worked out well that the Street Fighter 6 Years 1-2 Fighters Edition is right around the corner.
Arnold Tsang: The team started doing collaborations with other IPs after I’d left Blizzard, and ever since they announced the first one, I’ve been hoping that they’d do Street Fighter. Working on the comics was actually a part of my early career, so when Dion invited me to work on the project, I was psyched.
DarkHorse:What was it like communicating and collaborating with Capcom on this project?
Dion Rogers: The process of working with Capcom was amazing. We always enjoy working with various IP holders, whether for anime collabs or otherwise, but there is something special about incorporating the visual language of another game into Overwatch. They were terrific partners, giving us suggestions and helping out with technical challenges. As game developers, they really speak the same language that we do and were tremendously helpful throughout the entire process.
DarkHorse: What does this collaboration have to offer for Street Fighter fans?
Dion Rogers: Our team is full of Street Fighter fans, so we poured a lot of time and passion into making the skins feel as authentic to both universes as possible. We also added tons of little nods to Street Fighter, through not only the skins but also emotes, victory animations, artwork, and more.
Additionally, honoring the artistic influence and legacy of Street Fighter, we brought Arnold back in to create a special piece of key art.
Arnold Tsang: The artwork was fun and rewarding to work on. Given my background drawing Street Fighter comics and designing a lot of the original Overwatch heroes, it was a bit of a dream come true for me. I put a lot of attention into the details of the art, to emulate the power and personality of Street Fighter.
DarkHorse: How are these skins acquired in Overwatch 2? Can players just get the individual ones they want?
Dion Rogers: You’ll have the option to pick and choose which skins you prefer. For example, if you’re a Zenyatta main, you won’t have to purchase all the other skins just to get his Dhalsim skin.
DarkHorse: What are the chances we see a reciprocal collaboration with Overwatch content in Street Fighter 6?
Dion Rogers: We can’t speak to what Capcom does in Street Fighter 6, but we have loved this partnership and hope to work together again in the future.
DarkHorse: We’ve seen some fighting game references out of you guys before, so how much of a fighting game culture is there at Blizzard now?
Dion Rogers: There’s a lot of Street Fighter fans on the team, so much so that we would run a bunch of matches during our lunch breaks. We tend to pick the collabs that we can get excited about as a team, and the enthusiasm for this one was immediate.
One of the artists working on these skins started as an intern last summer, and she was so hyped about the collaboration that she decided to stay on the team. She put in a lot of work and proved her abilities, so we definitely had to keep her on to see this collab through.