Overwatch 2 is officially crossing over with popular anime/manga franchise One Punch Man later in Season 3. One Punch Man is the story of Saitama, who is quite literally capable of defeating any opponent he comes across with a single punch. Saitama boasts incredible stamina, speed, and strength, and is usually depicted as the strongest being in existence. A satire on the superhero genre and Shonen anime in general, a funny quirk about Saitama is that he's so incredibly powerful that he's grown bored with being a superhero.
One Punch Man's manga has proven to be very popular, but the franchise generated significantly more attention with the anime adaptation. The first season of the One Punch Man anime earned widespread critical acclaim, though it took years for the second season to arrive and when it did, it left a lot to be desired. A third season of the One Punch Man anime is in production, but while fans wait for that, they can check out the franchise's Overwatch 2 crossover in the meantime.
As announced by Blizzard, Overwatch 2 is crossing over with One Punch Man with a special Doomfist Saitama skin that gives the Tank hero Saitama's iconic yellow superhero outfit. The Overwatch 2/One Punch Man crossover will take place from March 7 to April 6, though further details on what it will entail are unavailable at the time of this writing. Blizzard has not revealed how players will get the Saitama skin, what else the One Punch Man event may feature, or really anything else beyond that Doomfist Saitama skin.
The upcoming Overwatch 2/One Punch Man crossover is just one major event that Blizzard has planned for the game's Season 3 of content. Overwatch 2 will kick off the Ultimate Valentine's Event on February 14, giving players the chance to try a dating sim starring Mercy and Genji, as well as a limited-time 4v4 mode starring Cupid Hanzo. Then from March 21 to April 4, Overwatch 2 is hosting the PachiMarchi event. All the events will give players the opportunity to get free content for Overwatch 2 by completing challenges and in some cases, simply logging into the game while the event is active.
It's clear that Overwatch 2 is looking to keep fans engaged with Season 3 by hosting more frequent events that were seen in the first two seasons of the game, but it remains to be seen if this strategy will pay off. In the meantime, one has to imagine that the One Punch Man crossover is just the beginning of Overwatch 2 IP collaborations, as it's become increasingly common for live service games in recent years.
Overwatch 2 is out now in early access for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
