Time is ticking down to the release of Overwatch 2, the next iteration of Blizzard's online multiplayer shooter. Overwatch 2 will be adding a variety of content, changing the experience in significant ways. New characters are easily the most exciting addition planned for Overwatch 2, so it's perhaps unsurprising that players have been looking to leaks for new information. Sadly, one of the recent prominent Overwatch 2 leaks, the so-called "Fox Girl" Kimiko, has now been outed as a fake by Blizzard.
The Fox Girl leak has always been suspicious. The leak originated on 4chan, which is well known for its inventive but wholly unreliable leaks. Nevertheless, given Overwatch 2's upcoming release and excitement consequently building, there was hope the leak could be real. Blizzard's Overwatch commercial leader Jon Spector took pity on excited fans and decided to share the truth in a comment on Reddit, fortunately. Spector made a quick Naruto joke and ended his message by confirming, "this is fake."
The leak, for those that missed it, featured an offscreen photograph of a gaming monitor. The monitor showed Overwatch 2's character select screen with a never-before-seen character named Kitsune selected. She had short purplish hair, heterochromia with a bright blue eye, a large four-bladed shuriken weapon, and a ghostly fox sitting on her shoulders. The post went on to describe Kitsune as a healer with a passive ability to hold onto walls, her other abilities create areas of effect that heal and provide speed, and her ultimate is like Hanzo's but it sends enemies to "another dimension" briefly.
Given the quality of the character model seen in the photograph, and the fact that none of the abilities were so outrageous as to be unbelievable, the Fox Girl leak was seen as potentially real. To be fair, some Overwatch fans did believe that the quality of the character wasn't up to Blizzard's typical standards, but the leak overall was treated as if it could be accurate.
Why Spector decided to comment on the matter is definitely a mystery. Blizzard isn't known to comment on every potential leak or rumor to come out for 4chan, or anywhere else for that matter. Perhaps the Fox Girl rumor was gaining more ground than Blizzard is used to, or it came at a time when Blizzard doesn't want a fake leak to disrupt its marketing plans.
Three new characters will be released for Overwatch 2's multiplayer at the start of October. Two of those characters are Sojourn and Junker Queen. The third is still a mystery, but Overwatch fans can assume that it won't be Kitsune.
Overwatch 2 releases October 4 on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: Reddit
