Overwatch Devs Admit Sombra Hack Removal Will Upset Players

Did you ever think you'd see the day when Sombra, the hacker hero, loses her Hack? Well, it's happening. As part of her support class debut in Overwatch Season 5: A Grim Doctrine, Sombra's iconic Hack ability has been replaced by Hotfix, which heals allies over time instead of disabling enemies. And the devs are fully aware that this is going to ruffle some feathers.

In a recent dev livestream, senior hero designer Leo Robles Gonzalez admitted, "We've seen a lot of reception about the Sombra rework, and one of the things people have talked about is the hacker losing hack." He explained that Blizzard tried multiple versions where Sombra could still hack enemies, but even with lower damage, "there was always that feeling of Sombra appearing out of nowhere, turning off my abilities, and then outputting damage that I can't really do anything about." So they decided to remove that frustration entirely.

The rework, announced last month, aims to make Sombra less annoying for both her foes and allies. Along with Hotfix, she's got a new ability called Cyberspace, which replaces her damage-over-time Virus with a projectile that weakens foes and heals allies. It's a big shift for a hero whose whole identity revolved around hacking.

Hero designer Scott Kennedy added that the team hopes this is "the last rework" of Sombra, acknowledging that "obviously players are going to be upset that they lost this hacking enemies version," but they believe "this overall is going to be better for the game and players will really learn to love and enjoy her." It's a bold claim, but Blizzard seems confident.

Don't worry, Sombra hasn't completely lost her hacking touch. Hotfix can still hack health packs and deployable objects like Torbjörn's turrets and Ashe's B.O.B. Plus, her ultimate, EMP, can still hack human enemies. So she's not entirely defanged, just reoriented toward support.

For veteran Sombra players, these changes will definitely take some getting used to. But as a support main, I'm excited to see how the new version plays. Will you be giving the reworked Sombra a try? What do you think of the Hack removal? Let us know in the comments!