‘Overwatch’ Devs Create Custom Rocket-Powered Turrets For Elon Musk

Elon Musk had some thoughts about how Overwatch's Torbjorn could be improved, and after that, Blizzard created a custom rocket-powered turret for the character most expeditiously.

This whole exchange was sparked when gaming YouTuber twomad asked Musk whether he mained Torbjorn in Overwatch. As an engineering genius who believes technology should help humanity become a better version of themselves, the content creator must have thought that the character and the public figure had some common ground. Musk responded, "Um ... yes," and the crowd went wild (metaphorically).

Then, the official Overwatch Twitter account joined in, posting a photo of Mars with one of Torbjorn's turrets placed on the surface. Of course, Musk is absolutely mad for Mars, and his company SpaceX aims to have established a colony on the red planet by 2040. It is a little known fact that we do already know of a (mostly) habitable planet for humanity, so it's understandable why the billionaire would look to the stars, instead of working collaboratively to secure a viable future for everyone here on Earth. "We've been thinking about this for a while. Call us," read the tweet from Overwatch.

"Please buff Torb's turret!" replied Musk. "Or maybe 2 weak turrets to allow more strategic degrees of freedom." Blizzard isn't one to leave a project in the lurch, and a few hours later, it presented the results of its efforts. On the Horizon Lunar Colony, Torbjorn throws out three turrets that are propelled into space with a little rocket thruster. The hero then sits himself down, as the suspended turrets automatically eliminate other characters walking out of the doors. Their bodies contort and float away into the cold abyss of space.

What could it mean? Will Torbjorn's turrets be modified to be rocket-powered? No, probably not. But, the video has drawn a lot of ire from players, which one would expect. Some are criticising the developer's speedy response to a tweet from a public figure, while their own feedback looks to have been left on the back burner. Others aren't happy that Blizzard is conversing with Musk, owing to his highly publicised controversies, which include playing down the severity of the coronavirus pandemic.

In any event, the developer likely released this video to rub elbows with Elon and that's that. Before you go, spare a thought for the community managers who have to dredge through the comments.

Topics: Overwatch