Here’s why Sigma has bare feet in Overwatch

An Overwatch artist has explained the reasoning behind new hero Sigma having bare feet.

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Sigma is the latest Overwatch hero to be revealed, becoming the 31st to join the game’s roster of playable characters.

An eccentric astrophysicist who’s unaware he’s been turned into a living weapon and is working with Talon, Sigma brings some unique new mechanics to the game. He can fire projectile Hyperspheres that bounce off surfaces, for instance, and his Gravitic Flux ultimate raises enemies within it into the air before slamming them down for damage.

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The reaction to Sigma has been largely positive, both for offering another unique playing experience to tanks, a role that at times can be in danger of becoming too repetitive, and for an interesting origin story that was introduced through a reveal video that was equal parts sinister and tragic.

• Read more: Overwatch players are discovering Sigma Easter Eggs all over

One aspect of Sigma that did leave players a little confused, however, was the fact that he has bare feet.

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Sigma floats rather than walking, so technically he doesn’t really need shoes, but many fans were nevertheless confused as to why he wasn’t wearing anything on his feet despite being otherwise fully-clothed.

According to Overwatch concept artist Qiu Fang, the reason for the absence of shoes is to “sell the ‘asylum’ look a bit more”, inspired the fact that some patients would not be allowed shoes because “they might cause harm with the laces.”

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“Thanks for your feedbacks! We decided to keep the feet bare to sell the ‘asylum’ look a bit more; in many institutions, patients are not allowed to have shoes because they might cause harm with the laces. While Sigma isnt neccisarily in danger of that, we felt that having no shoes helped draw that connection. I also had iterations of him with shoes on, and it made him alot more generic, so in the end we decided to leave him barefeet. That’s just what the reasoning internally was though, I’m sure we’ll be making skins with shoes on him in the future!”

Fortunately for those who a still a little unsure about the bare-foot look, it seems likely that when Sigma actually goes live there will be skins for the hero featuring shoes. In the meantime, players who wish to test out Sigma on the PTR will have to make do without.