Overwatch Honors Fan Who Died a Day Before Its Release

The recent Overwatch patch tweaked several parts of the game and added Competitive Play, but it also included a nice gesture from developer Blizzard: players have discovered that, on the Lijiang Tower map, there is now a reference to an Overwatch fan who passed away one day before the game released.

As detailed by Reddit user Rebirdhk, the spacesuit display has a name on the suit and a message written above it that pays homage to the fan. The messages are written in Chinese; the fan's name, Hongyu Wu, appears on the spacesuit, and above it Blizzard has added "Heroes never die."

It's a cool addition that honors a man who, from all reports, died bravely. He witnessed someone stealing one of his classmate's motorcycles and hopped on his own to give chase. While pursuing the thief, he collided with the stolen bike and passed away from his injuries. This was on May 23.

As reported by Reddit user czhihong, Wu was really looking forward to the release of Overwatch and talked often with his friends about it. You can see czhihong's post for translations of the pretty heartbreaking messages sent to Wu from his friends after the accident.

Even if it's a small thing, it's always nice to see developers recognize the passion of their fans and honor those who might be affected by tragedies like this.