The Overwatch team at Blizzard is teasing the next addition to its growing roster of playable heroes ahead of a possible release in March. Fans are poring over cryptic teasers for any details that might reveal who the next character will be.

The latest hints were found in a post to the official Overwatch blog, detailing an aspect of the game's lore. The post revealed a letter sent from turret-loving character Torbjorn to his wife following an operation that left him injured.

Torbjorn reveals he was saved by fellow playable character Reinhardt and that in return for this act he would allow the big German to name his unborn daughter.

This daughter could well be Bridgette Lindholm, who was seen in an animated short film released last year about a younger, cockier Reinhardt and a valuable lesson he learnt in the field.

Characters that have popped up in such films and other media have gone on to become playable characters in the game, including 26th hero Moira and, most famously, Doomfist.

Blizzard began teasing something new last week, with a "declassified" account of Operation White Dome, the mission during which Torbjorn was injured. The mission was carried out by Overwatch operatives Torbjorn, Reinhardt, Ana and a new character.

Called Emre Sarioglu, the character's inclusion led many to believe he or she would be the new hero, but Blizzard are rarely so obvious with their teases.

Five additional heroes have been added to Overwatch since its launch in May 2016. Two were released in July, two in November and one in March. Should the pattern continue a release in March 2018 appears likely.

Orisa was the character who launched in March of last year. She was revealed early in the month, introduced to the test server shortly after and then to the main game a few weeks later. If the new hero follows a similar trajectory we could get an official announcement later this week.

While there's no guarantee the new character will belong the Defence class of heroes, no new defence hero has been added to Overwatch since the game's launch.

Overwatch is a hero-based multiplayer shooter in which teams of six are comprised of characters with unique abilities. The game has been immensely popular since it launched and continues to grow in popularity thanks to the competitive Overwatch League, which began earlier this year.

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