'Overwatch' Fans Look For Clues To New Sombra Character In Broken Monitor At Gamescom

“Overwatch” lore is full of mystique, and no character has confounded fans more than the shadowy Sombra. ESL content producer AlphaCast posted a picture of a broken monitor on Twitter, and the game’s community was sent into frenzy.

The large screen was photographed earlier during the convention and was clearly shown displaying map and hero highlights. However, for about a day, that same TV featured the scrambled image displayed above.

As we’re only a few hours into analysis, nothing major has turned up in terms of character confirmations. Some suggestions on Reddit say that the distorted graphic might be an autostereogram visual puzzle that can only been seen in person, while others have begun pouring over the image with photo editing software. The Blizzard logo is clearly visible, but what’s hidden underneath remains a mystery. Many onlookers have pointed out a skull-shaped logo, and contrasting sets of eyes see a hexagon. The most adventurous perspectives conceptualize a smiling feminine form. The conspiracy has prompted nearly 300 comments and counting.

As “Overwatch” enthusiasts continue to poke, the most pervasive hope is that the strange image has something to do with a character named Sombra. That phrase can be seen in newspapers in the Dorado map. Reaper also has a single line of interaction dialogue in which he states “where is Sombra when you need her.” More recently, Ana’s character trailer briefly flashes lines of code that some believe to contain hidden references to Sombra’s whereabouts. Sombra translates to shadow in Spanish, so it makes sense that someone with that nickname would stay out of sight.

Naysayers contend that the broken monitor has nothing to do with any sort of character tease. Close analysis shows that the digits “2016” are available in the photo. Ergo, the graphic could easily be a displaced version of Blizzard’s Gamescom logo or the “Overwatch” world cup graphic shown below. The defined shape of both designs leans towards that possibility.

That being said, why would Blizzard leave a broken monitor running for several hours during a major convention? If it were truly unintended, a garbled screen wouldn’t do much to attract passerby to the area. It’s conflicting opinions like these that keep the theorizing alive!

Sombra aside, Blizzard did have some surprises for “Overwatch” fans during Gamescom. A new map, called Eichenwalde, was revealed and will be released in September. “The Last Bastion” animated short was also included in the festivities.

“Overwatch” is available now on PS4, Xbox One and PC.

Do you think this broken monitor has anything to do with Sombra? Is this new character tease a stretch? Tell us in the comments section!