On the 4th, Blizzard Entertainment unveiled two Korean-themed skin introduction videos prepared by the Overwatch development team and Blizzard Korea for only the Korean community through the official Overwatch YouTube channel.
Overwatch consistently showcases a variety of skins inspired by traditional Korean culture and folklore, and continues to promote the value of Korean culture to the world market. Furthermore, a Korean Overwatch developer has been making an effort to actively communicate with domestic fans by explaining the background of content development. In 2019, in recognition of his contribution to promoting Korean culture to the world through game contents, he was also the first in the game industry to receive a certificate of appreciation under the name of the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
In the new year of 2021, two new Korean-themed skins will be added to the game:’Tiger Hunter’, an ash skin, and’Machi,’ an eco skin. Both skins can be obtained through the’Year of the White Cow’ Lunar New Year event starting on the 5th.
First,’Tiger Hunter’ is the result of reinterpreting the characteristics of a profession of the old days in Overwatch’s own language, and Peter Lee Principal Concept Artist said, It is known that it has prevented people from getting angry with tigers, but unfortunately, there are not many historical records that specifically describe the appearance,” he explained the background of the production through a video.
Outwardly, as well as weapons, Ash wears a waistband or knee protector to embody his character as a tiger hunter. In addition, Bob with Ash has the spirit of a tiger, a beast representing Korea, and has been released in advance through Overwatch Facebook on the 3rd and is getting good reviews.
As a symbolic element representing the New Year’s Day, the’magpie’, which experimentally produced Echo’s differentiated flying ability and the gorgeous feeling of feathers, was also introduced. As a design element, the contrast between black and white, and the feeling of’Jobawi’ and’Liquor (multi-stranded thread)’ tried to approach magpie’s unique design language and traditional Korean culture. In particular, the skin will be called’Kkachi’ in other countries.
Hak-Sung Lee, a senior technical artist who participated in the background video of Korean skin production for 3 consecutive years, said through the video, “I will not stop trying to inform the world about the oldness and beauty of Korean history and culture through Overwatch contents.” I will also listen to advice.”
Finally, the two developers emphasized, “I hope you always remember that Korea is very special to Blizzard,” with a greeting for the new year in 2021. A message of hope was also delivered.
Meanwhile, with the joining of’Tiger Hunter’ and’Machi’, the number of Korean themed skins in Overwatch game has become a total of 10.