Overwatch 2 has a tabletop-RPG-themed event going on right now, in some ways making explicit a connection that’s long been present between the two worlds. If you didn’t know, Cassidy, the gunslinging cowboy that’s been part of the roster since the first game launched in 2016, is voiced by Matt Mercer, a seasoned actor and also the dungeon master for the phenomenally popular tabletop roleplaying series Critical Role. Now, as part of the ongoing event, Blizzard has fittingly slid in a reference to Mercer’s storied history as a DM, with a clever nod to one of the many inside jokes that Critical Role has spawned in its eight-year history.
At level 44 on this season’s battle pass, players will unlock a voice line for Cassidy in which the cowboy says, “How do you want to do this?” For those not in the know, Mercer asking players how they want to do something is a running gag throughout Critical Role’s history, so much so that fans have made whole supercuts of him doing so, much to the delight of his co-stars. Now, when you’ve got a Cassidy on your team and are planning a sick coordinated play, your Cassidy can spam the voice line as he inquires just how you’re planning on pulling off a team wipe when it’s down to the wire, and the enemy payload is nearly at its goal.
Critical Role references are just one example of how Overwatch 2’s fifth season is paying tribute to tabletop games. It also has an ongoing text-based story that you unlock by progressing through the battle pass, which follows some heroes, such as Tracer and Orisa, taking part in their own tabletop game alongside Tracer’s girlfriend Emily.
Outside of the theme, season five is also making some changes to reintroduce crowd control to the game, including a rework of Cassidy’s grenade ability to create a slowing effect when it attaches to an enemy.