Blizzard wants to free Overwatch's Jetpack Cat from her perma-ban cage, but needs to work out the limits of her antics

There are some characters that are just pure evil. Diablo from the Diablo series. Deathwing in World of Warcraft. Jetpack Cat in Overwatch – what, were you expecting Reaper? The mischievous little feline meowed its way into the FPS game with Season 1, Conquest, and has been virtually perma-banned in ranked ever since. Initially I thought she was cute: she’s a cat with a big blue jetpack, what else do I need to say? But her impressive mobility and ability to pick up other characters and zoom them across the map has proven nightmarish, made worse when her perks kick in. Those deceitful little meows now haunt my dreams, and I’m not alone.

I’ve played a lot of competitive games upon my return to Overwatch, and Jetpack Cat has been banned every time bar one. The cheeky little feline’s minor perk, Claws Out (which empowers quick melee attack damage for six seconds and induces a 30% slow) has proven an absolute menace. Combine that with Territorial, which damages nearby enemies for 50% of Purr’s overall healing done, and the furball begins to look more like a DPS than a support. While she did take a couple of nerfs this week (Claws Out’s cooldown has increased, while Territorial’s damage has decreased), she’s still an incredibly powerful support.

Speaking to associate game director Alec Dawson – lamenting the many times Jetpack Cat has sent me to my grave – I ask what the team’s plans are for her. “We loved the response [to Jetpack Cat],” he laughs. “She’s had her own ‘moment,’ so to speak, and players have definitely been gravitating towards the cat a lot. They’ve also been banning the cat a lot, too – it’s the highest banned character in the game at the moment.

“We love the cat, but we are going to tone down a little bit of her aggression,” he continues. “When she gets both her minor perk, Claws Out, and her major perk, Territorial, the combination allows her to be an absolute menace that’s diving backlines and taking 1v1s. So we’re going to tone that down just a little bit and see how that goes, but the cat won’t be scratching as much as she is currently.”

When I ask if there are any major feline-shaped bugs that need squashing – or, alternatively, if there are any bugs that got through because they were too much fun – he notes that “the other day I saw someone put a Mauga cage on top of a Mei ice block with a Jetpack Cat and just took everyone off the map – some of those might be bugs,” he laughs. “But with Cassidy or Orisa and some of those surprise ultimates, it’s like: ‘what is the limit for some of this stuff?’ That’s something we’re still discussing.

“We wanted to come into Season 1 and make sure players felt like their creativity wasn’t [restricted] by us before they got to try everything. It’s been really exciting to see what they’ve been doing with the heroes, but we’ll see over time: how much of that gets a little bit old a little too quickly.”

I ask about Blizzard’s general approach to balance – Dawson has confirmed plans to add a new hero per season, after all, and as videogames swell I often find that preventing power creep becomes more complex.

“We used to lean on this philosophy of safe, size, strong,” he tells me. “So, when we had hero releases, we’d make sure that they were pretty high up [performed well] in whatever the role would be – tank, DPS, support – and they would be very, very competitive. We’re going to pull back on that a little bit: when a hero comes out, we don’t want them to be perma-banned. We want the hero to be impactful, but don’t want you to go into Competitive and never be able to play them. So we’re trying to find that right landing zone where they’re still impactful, but they’re not the most-banned character in the game, like Jetpack Cat is right now.

“We also have a lot of safeguards in place,” he continues. “I do think that hero bans coming in last year has given us a lot more flexibility, and for the community to say ‘hey, we don’t want to play against this thing.’ It gives us some time to react and see why and actually make adjustments as needed. I think all of those in combination allows us to feel a little confident about when heroes can be released, but at the same time, we’re going to be trying some wacky stuff throughout the year – when it comes to releasing more heroes, there are more chances to take risks.”

For all my Jetpack Cat hating, I do think that Season 1’s newcomers are great additions to the ever-expanding roster of Overwatch characters. I’ve become an overnight Mizuki main, and as a Sombra player I enjoy Anran’s flanking playstyle and speedy movement. It feels like the most diverse slate of characters we’ve seen in a while, even if I also consistently ban Domina and vehemently hate Emre’s ult. It’s an exciting time to be an Overwatch player, especially knowing that the cat’s claws are a little less sharp. Take that, Jetpack Cat.