Feature

Overwatch’s newest hero is Hammond the Hamster, and no I’m not kidding

Not only is he a hamster, but you can play him on the PTR right now.

June 28, 2018

Today Blizzard officially announced the newest Overwatch hero, Hammond the Hamster, aka “Wrecking Ball”. The announcement arrived via the official Overwatch Twitter account.

Introducing Wrecking Ball—a resourceful tinkerer that fights with an iron-clad mech.

Learn more @ https://t.co/0S7Ac8su9n pic.twitter.com/0Zi5QA8mZv

— Overwatch (@PlayOverwatch) June 28, 2018

Blizzard has dangled a number of teasers in front of fans for the last several days, with details slowly leaking out until today’s reveal. First we knew the hero’s name was Hammond, then people started speculating it would be another monkey related to Winston and then everyone’s theories went up in the air when a mechanical ball was shown rolling across a Junkertown looking area.

Well ladies and gentlemen it’s a hamster and his name is Hammond. Hammond aka “Wrecking Ball” is the sixth tank to come to Overwatch and is available today for PC players to test on the Overwatch PTR.

Hammond was one of the animals at Horizon Lunar Colony to receive genetic therapy and the results granted him exceptional growth in physical size and brain function. Hammond’s natural curiosity led him to frequently escape his quarters on the colony and to teach himself how to become a mechanic. When the gorillas of the colony revolted, Hammond seized his chance at freedom with one of the stations escape pods.

Upon arriving on Earth, Hammond found himself in the Australian outback near the now-famous Junkertown. Putting his mechanical skills to work he modified his escape pod, turning it into a battle mech which he used to compete in the mech battle arena of the Scrapyard. After becoming the reigning champion of the Scrapyard mech arena, Hammond used his winnings to set out on new adventures.

Overview of Hammond’s abilities:

QUAD CANNONS
Automatic assault weapons.

ROLL
Transform into a ball and increase maximum movement speed.

GRAPPLING CLAW
Launch a grappling claw to rapidly swing around the area. Enables high speed collisions to damage and knockback enemies.

MINEFIELD
Deploy a massive field of proximity mines.

ADAPTIVE SHIELD
Create temporary personal shields. Amount increases with more enemies nearby.

PILEDRIVER
Slam into the ground below to damage and launch enemies upward.

You can learn more about Hammond, his abilities and Blizzard’s thoughts on his role as a tank here.