Sigma is the alias of Siebren de Kuiper, a character who first appeared in a 2019 update for the video game Overwatch, a Blizzard Entertainment–developed first-person hero shooter, and the resulting franchise. Designed by artist Qiu Fang, he was introduced in a 2019 update for the title. An extremely tall Dutch man, Sigma is an astrophysicist who suffered psychological damage due to an experiment with a black hole, but as a result gained the ability to manipulate gravity. He was later discovered and recruited by the terrorist group Talon, though is unaware that they are manipulating him to their own ends. While Sigma's design was well received at first, the revelation that he suffered from mental illness, and moreso how his character's design played into this aspect, received complaints from various media outlets and mental health advocacy groups. This led to some questioning the necessity of emphasizing it within the game's story, while others observed it through the scope of their own mental issues. This further raised questions regarding Blizzard's approach to Overwatch and its dedication to representation within the game, and a reminder for others of the stigma such individuals face in real life.
Conception and development
After the introduction of the character Baptiste to Overwatch, Blizzard Entertainment's development team wanted to explore the idea of an "evil" tank-type character. In addition they wanted to introduce another "anchor tank" to the game in the vein of their character Reinhardt, someone who could create shields and act as a vanguard for their team to build around. They originally considered Mauga, a character introduced in Baptiste's backstory associated with the game's terrorist group, Talon. However, when developing Mauga's gameplay they found it did not fit the aesthetic they had in mind for a character they wanted to portray as someone that would frequently attack enemies head on. Though they considered several ideas, including the concept of Mauga punching out barriers, they instead went for a different approach. Keeping the theme of a character associated with Talon, they developed the concept of another scientist associated with the organization to help flesh out both it and another character, Moira. Creating the character Sigma, they considered both magnetic and gravitational powers. They ultimately went with the later, being mindful to make his gameplay different from other characters in the game that had similar abilities. Sigma was originally envisioned as a muscular character for his design, with several iterations revolving around this concept armed with a variety of weaponry including several large cannons. Other aspects such as a tail were also considered complete with matching gameplay elements before being cut. However, designer Qiu Fang wanted to emphasize a tall, thinner appearance to deviate from how tank characters are normally portrayed as large and bulky, illustrating a character that uses their power to protect instead of physique. To help Sigma's design keep in line with the visual expectations for a tank character, he was given heavy armor covering parts of his body.
Design Sigma stands roughly 8 feet tall. His outfit consists of a jumpsuit that leaves his toes and heel exposed; grey and black armor plating across his hips and torso, with turquoise armor on his upper chest. His shoulders and arms are covered in large green spiked shoulder pads and gauntlets, with the later hovering off his shoulders. Similar armor hovers around the back of his shaved head. Meanwhile, several cables connect the various pieces of armor, some of them glowing. In Overwatch 2, Sigma's armor was simplified, now taking on a silver appearance and losing elements such as the protrusions on his hips. His armor was meant to help keep him in line with the visual expectations for a tank character, although this caused concerns of Sigma looking like a robot or cyborg. As Sigma perpetually floats over the ground, game director Jeff Kaplan asked if it was even necessary for Sigma to wear shoes. As Sigma had very little exposed skin, Fang agreed with the idea of making him barefoot, feeling it helped bring humanity to the design. However in a post on his Artstation account, Fang attributed the decision instead to wanting to "sell the asylum look", tying into the character's backstory and referencing real-world mental health hospitals, where patients are often not given any shoes to avoid potentially harming themselves. Like other Overwatch characters, Sigma received skins, unlockable cosmetic items to change his in-game appearance. In particular, his "Prophet" skin features him blindfolded, and was meant to tie into the character's disassociation with time and reality as well as his own abstract "magical" powers. Meanwhile, his "Maestro" skin was designed to promote an upcoming music album Blizzard was producing for the game, and felt the character would suit the event well due to his affinity for classical music. For the skin, Sigma's armor was redesigned to resemble string violins, with his hair slicked back. After the development team felt it was too sleek, they adjusted his hair to be messy, to give him an "Einstein-slash-Beethoven vibe".
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