Highlights
- Blizzard helps players understand how to pronounce the name of Overwatch 2's newest hero, Illari, due to the unique and exotic names of the game's heroes.
- Season 6 of Overwatch 2 introduces new content, including Illari with her Solar Rifle and healing abilities, as well as new PvP and PvE modes.
- Blizzard addresses confusion over the pronunciation of Illari's name by reposting a video of her saying her own name, emphasizing the correct pronunciation.
There is no shortage of exotic and unique names among the heroes of Overwatch 2 which can be difficult to pronounce, leading Blizzard to help players understand how to pronounce the name of the game's newest hero, Illari. Names such as Torbjorn and Baptiste can, at first glance, seem confusing to a new player learning the game and what the correct pronunciation actually is for said heroes. The Peruvian support hero's name, though, has been a point of confusion even among some veteran players since her reveal leading up to the start of Season 6, prompting Blizzard to help.
Season 6 of Overwatch 2 has brought with it plenty of new content for players to dig into between the newest hero and new modes for both PvP and PvE. Central to Illari's gameplay is her Solar Rifle, which can fire single-charged shots for damage or a healing beam, along with her healing pylons and her ultimate ability, Captive Sun. On the gameplay side, there is Flashpoint, a PvP mode where the first team to capture three of five control points wins, and Invasion, three new PvE story missions that pit players against Null Sector.
Following Illari's reveal ahead of the start of Overwatch 2 Season 6, there have been players asking Blizzard on social media how to properly pronounce her name. It was made more confusing as other players started to notice that, despite how her name was pronounced in the reveal video, many of the heroes say her name slightly differently while in-game. To resolve this confusion, Blizzard took to Overwatch's Twitter account to repost Illari saying her own name from the reveal video and making a point of saying this was how to properly pronounce her name. Based on the video, the character pronounced her name as "Ee-yar-ee."
Players can argue, given the general confusion about the pronunciation of Illari, that she has the most unique name among a colorful roster of heroes who manage to feel largely unique in both name and design. Blizzard has never been shy about giving Overwatch's heroes unique names that reflect their heritage, such as Lucio or Torbjorn, though some can be difficult for new players to pronounce at first glance. Beyond the names, many of the characters have thematic similarities to others to reflect their own histories, such as the gang association between Ashe and Cassidy or Pharah being the daughter of Ana.
As the roster continues to grow, it would not be surprising to see the same issue some players had with Illari's name comes up again in future seasons of Overwatch 2. It remains to be seen how soon it will happen again, but given how colorful the game's collection of heroes already is, players may need to work on their phonetic and linguistic skills.
Overwatch 2 is currently available for Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
