The popularity of "Overwatch" has never been in doubt. The game has generated over $1 billion in revenue after one year of release on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC, according to the latest Activision-Blizzard financial reports. So, it's not particularly surprising other games might borrow ideas. However, a Chinese clone takes the cake by not only blatantly copying the hero shooter but also mashing up some characters with recognizable faces from elsewhere.
Recognize that 'Overwatch' character?
"Hero Mission" is a Chinese mobile first-person shooter takes things far further than simply being inspired by "Overwatch." There are characters that are close to straight copies of Reinhardt and Mercy with only minor tweaks.
For example, the Mercy clone is given a rifle, a slightly different hairstyle, and bikini bottoms instead of pants. The Reinhardt clone is even more blatant with only swapping a sword in for the character's hammer. D.va is mostly the same, since there's not much reason to change her, but has a different hairstyle and a revealing sailor suit.
Other "Overwatch" character imitations are more amusing. The beat-dropping Lucio is given a new skin tone and is now a white guy while McCree goes gender bender to become a dual-pistol packing half-naked lady. Even more amusingly, the highly intelligent Winston is transformed from a gorilla into a Panda. This allows the developers to create alternate skins that borrow from other franchises such as "World of Warcraft" and even "Kung Fu Panda." Yes, they've managed to find a way to add Po.
Character mash-up
The crossovers between "Overwatch" and other intellectual property continues on through other characters from Video Games, comics, and movies. Roadhog and his signature hook are present, except now he's essentially skinned as Immortan Joe from "Mad Max: Fury Road." Meanwhile, the clone's Genji character is essentially Sephiroth from "Final Fantasy" with throwing knives instead of a giant sword.
The Hanzo clone manages a hat trick, however. The base character looks to be borrowed from The CW's "Arrow" or even Hawkeye from the "Avengers." As a bonus, his alternate skins feature glaring copies of "Rambo" and "Assassin's Creed."
Even the 'Overwatch' Maps
Gameplay video of "Hero Mission" posted to YouTube even shows the developers went far enough to copy maps from "Overwatch." The maps used are copies in terms of art style and even the actual layout.
Blizzard has more important thing to deal with such as Sombra's Translocater bug and DDoS attacks. However, Chinese copyright law is a funny thing, so it is unclear how much Activision-Blizzard can do about "Hero Mission." It's actually not the first from the country and it certainly will not be the last.
