Have you seen this robot (opens in new tab)? It is about 170 centimeters tall, weighs about two tons, and has a friendly bird on its shoulder. Overwatch commercial leader John Spector announced on Twitter (opens in new tab) that Bastion would finally return to Overwatch 2 on October 25 after disappearing from the game for nine days without any updates. At that point, he had been gone for more than two weeks. Spector also announced that the Junkertown map, which was removed to fix a bug affecting graphics performance, would return the same day as Bastion.

Blizzard made the decision to temporarily remove Bastion (open in new tab) from Overwatch 2 on Monday, October 10, after a bug was discovered that allowed this robotic hero to use his ultimate ability, Mortar Strike, with unlimited devastating effects. Torbjörn was also targeted for a bug fix at the same time, but remains playable in Quick Play while Blizzard addresses the issue.

Bastion was not so lucky; what Blizzard initially described as a "quick trip to the workshop" ended up lasting 15 days. Not only is the newly reworked hero unplayable in matches, but even the evidence that he ever appeared in Overwatch 2 has been completely removed from the client. You can no longer enter training mode with Bastion, play against bots, or even view his cosmetics in the main menu. In fact, he no longer appears in the list of heroes at all, forcing one to wonder if he ever really existed.

The wait for Bastion's safe return has been long enough that the community's reaction has shifted from lighthearted memes (open in new tab) in anticipation of his return, to dour doom posts (open in new tab), and mild It is starting to turn into resentment. Admittedly, nine days is a long time to wait for an update, and a bit odd considering how vocal the official "Overwatch" support channels have been about other ongoing issues with the game, such as server interruptions and inventory discrepancies.

Spector's statement is welcome, but it doesn't mention why a superficially normal bug (pressing two buttons at once cancels Ultimate) was apparently so difficult to crack. He did say that he stopped queuing up for DPS last night, recalling the shock of disappointment he felt when the character select showed up and the sad state of affairs.

As Twitch streamer Hoshizora noted, Bastion has been missing from Overwatch 2 for longer than he was in Overwatch 2.