Overwatch 2 players are eulogising out-of-action hero Bastion as if he'd died

Robot damage hero Bastion has been unplayable in Overwatch 2 for the past week due to some unfortunate shenanigans with his artillery ultimate. It was only meant to be temporary, Blizzard said. Yet this increasingly lengthy absence from the game's resulted in some players treating the poor droid as though he'd passed away rather than becoming glitched out for a little while.

Bastion first disappeared a week ago when Blizzard announced he’d be “taking a quick trip to the workshop” to have some work done on his ability kits. The robot hero was withdrawn from all play modes, and hasn’t been seen since. Scrolling through Overwatch Twitter and the subreddit pops up messages from players who want proof of life, miss him and want him back, or are appealing for information. Someone even wrote him a song.

Not content with just pretending Bastion had left this mortal coil, some players have been suggesting he might never have existed at all, as a way of winding up people who didn't hear about his technical issues. These players are claiming, with a wink, that Bastion might be a false memory, an example of the Mandela Effect. Of course, this is all just silliness to wind up players who didn’t realise Bastion was taking some time out to get fixed up. Right? Personally, I’m pretty sure Bastion is real, but we won’t know for sure until he’s safely back in Overwatch 2. It’s entirely possible that Bastion will return soon, and his continued absence could just be down to lenghty waits for console patches to be approved.

Bastion received something of a rework for Overwatch 2, which had been planned more than a year before the game actually launched at the beginning of this month. Blizzard even gave him a nice little hat, too. Although Bastion and Torbjorn are still on the benches, Blizzard seem fairly happy with the rest of Overwatch 2’s hero roster. In a progress report shared last week, the Overwatch devs revealed they weren’t intending to make any major balance changes until season two begins in December.

If Bastion isn’t part of a grand conspiracy to convince the world robot turret people exist, then I’ll let you know when he’s back in the game. While we’re waiting, why not check out Ollie’s handy Overwatch 2 counters chart so your team can handle any Moira that comes your way.