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Overwatch's hit sound effect comes from cracking open a cold one

The Overwatch visual source book included with the game's collector's edition comes with all sorts of behind-the-scenes tidbits, including this one.

David Craddock

May 23, 2016 3:50 PM

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Overwatch players are giddy to begin playing when the game launches late tonight/early tomorrow morning, and are trawling the Internet for any and all Overwatch material to keep their minds and hands occupied—like, say, handy-dandy gameplay guides! Behind-the-scenes stories are always a fun and informative way of passing the time, such as one found on the game's subreddit detailing how Blizzard's developers nailed the hit-pip.

The hit-pip, they explain, is the sound that plays when you successfully tag someone with your weapon. The Reddit post, peppered within information gleaned from the Overwatch book packaged with the collector's edition, provides more detail (per PC Gamer).

"The sound needs to cut through the mix but not feel like it comes from any hero. It went through tons of iteration. Finally, one night I thought, ‘It should be satisfying to hit an enemy.’ Just think about what's satisfying: beer. So I literally opened a beer bottle. Pssht. The sound is reversed and tweaked a little, but that sound is our hit-pip."

It's a good bit of visual feedback, and one of many developer stories that will come to light when Overwatch finally releases on May 24 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC.

David Craddock

Long Reads Editor

David L. Craddock writes fiction, nonfiction, and grocery lists. He is the author of the Stay Awhile and Listen series, and the Gairden Chronicles series of fantasy novels for young adults. Outside of writing, he enjoys playing Mario, Zelda, and Dark Souls games, and will be happy to discuss at length the myriad reasons why Dark Souls 2 is the best in the series. Follow him online at davidlcraddock.com and @davidlcraddock.