When Overwatch was launched, it was widely praised for its character design. While the game's design is set to continue with the current style, it will be with a different lead character artist, as Renaud Galand is leaving to pursue other ventures.
This announcement comes after a near 12 year run with Blizzard Entertainment, in which Galand was said to have worked on the canceled Project Titan, Overwatch, and Overwatch 2. Galand leaves behind an incredibly successful legacy of incredible characters and beautiful art.
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Galand made the announcement in an Instagram post that included a picture of his company badge along with a Tracer keychain and a separate keychain denoting "T4," a direct tie-in to the team Galand had worked with. Galand expresses exactly how excited he is to play Overwatch 2 and stresses how much his team, like so many other employees that have left, meant to him. With that in mind, he mentions that he's ready to leave and start on something new.
With so many interesting and creative characters inside Overwatch, it's plain to see how much of a hand Galand had in fully realizing the look and feel of Overwatch's characters. A trip over to his ArtStation page demonstrates just how many characters came from Galand's work and the different types of skins created by his hand. Whether it's Mei, RoadHog, Junkrat, or the many others, Galand definitely put his mark on the Overwatch world.
Upon release, Overwatch was a tremendous success for Blizzard, demonstrating that people were ready to shed the greys and browns that were typical FPS titles at the time. With the departure of director Jeff Kaplan and now the departure of Renaud Galand, the lead character artist for the game, this has to be a reeling moment for the franchise and Blizzard altogether. Departures are nothing new in business, but the timing for all of this has to put a strain on the teams involved. While announcements continue to be made about the content of Overwatch 2, one has to imagine that the timeline continues to shift for release.
While his ArtStation doesn't hold any character designs to be released in Overwatch 2, it will be interesting to see what characters evolve from Galand's previous designs and who will continue to be a presence in the franchise's universe. With no release date as of yet, a flurry of departures, and new exploits being found in the original Overwatch game, Overwatch 2 looks to have unique challenges it has to face.
Overwatch is now available on the Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, and Xbox One.