Overwatch 2 Kiriko animated short shows two very different sides to the new hero

Update: The Overwatch 2 Kiriko animated short has finally premiered after a long wait at TwitchCon today, and it's a doozy.

Kiriko's animated short is a funny, heartfelt, badass rollercoaster ride showing two very different sides to the new Overwatch 2 healer hero: "the loving daughter and the deadly protector."

The team behind the Overwatch cinematics just never miss, do they?

Original story:

Overwatch 2 will drop a highly anticipated Kiriko animated short during the TwitchCon 2022 keynote presentation today, October 7. The nine-minute-long cinematic will kick off at 3pm PT / 6pm ET / 11pm BST on the official TwitchCon stream. 

Fans of the game have been waiting for the new healer hero's animated short, as many heroes have gotten their own since Overwatch launched back in 2016. The animated shorts offer some great insight into each character, and with Overwatch 2 fans upset after Overwatch lore was found seriously lacking in the sequel, it'll be nice to get to know Kiriko better. 

We know that Kiriko has close ties to established heroes Genji and Hanzo, which makes sense since she plays basically like Genji as a support healer. Her mother was a ninja who trained both Hanzo and Genji when Kiriko was young, so she has an almost familial bond with the two brothers. 

She's also, however, grown up under the tutelage of a grandmother who worshipped the Kanezaka fox shrine, so she represents a bit of the old and a bit of the new. Here's hoping that her animated short will expand upon Kiriko's backstory and personality so that we can learn even more about the healer. 

Overwatch 2 is also giving away some Kiriko-themed Twitch Drops if you watch any stream in the Overwatch 2 category for two hours between October 7 and October 16, and October 17 and October 24. The first Twitch Drop is a voice line and Legendary skin, while the second is a spray and weapon charm. For more information on how to get Twitch Drops for Overwatch 2, check out Blizzard's blog post

If you've been enjoying Kiriko, you can get some free in-game items for her, including a legendary skin, through Overwatch 2 Twitch Drops.

Alyssa Mercante

Alyssa Mercante is an editor and features writer at GamesRadar based out of Brooklyn, NY. Prior to entering the industry, she got her Masters's degree in Modern and Contemporary Literature at Newcastle University with a dissertation focusing on contemporary indie games. She spends most of her time playing competitive shooters and in-depth RPGs and was recently on a PAX Panel about the best bars in video games. In her spare time Alyssa rescues cats, practices her Italian, and plays soccer.

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