Brigitte Has a Jetpack Cat Emote and our Prayers Have Been Answered

The Lindholm family cat has finally made its official Overwatch debut. Not as a playable character, but as a companion in Brigitte’s most recent emote. The Swedish furry friend, colloquially known as “Jetpack Cat,” rose to fame after initially appearing in Brigitte’s origin story cinematic, and has since become a sensation in the community.

I modeled this kitty! I hope you like this huggable chonk. 💜

The team did an amazing job bringing it to life! #Overwatch pic.twitter.com/IsxF5fYAbM

— 𝐘𝐈𝐍𝐆★ 🌙 (@yingleberry) March 13, 2020

The Origins of Jetpack Cat

The original concept of Jetpack Cat goes back to an idea for an Overwatch hero scrapped early in development. During the concept art phase, the developer team came up with “this jetpack and it had this cat that laid in it, like a cat does,” according to a 2017 GameSpot interview with Jeff Kaplan. Concept art is a key part of defining a game’s look and feel, and the friendly feline helped the developers “test the boundaries” of what they wanted the game to look like. Ultimately, despite a scientist gorilla and a mech-piloting hamster, the developers dubbed Jetpack Cat “probably too far,” and scrapped it as a playable character.

However, like heroes, Jetpack Cat will never die, and has appeared as an easter egg throughout Brigitte’s cosmetic inventory and lore. The fully-rendered feline is a bit of a chonker, nearly as tall as she is from nose to tail. Additionally, he appears thoroughly nonplussed at being picked up and snuggled by his human friend for any length of time.

The emote is available for 3000 in-game coins, the same cost as a legendary skin. This is similar to the original pricing of Orisa’s puppy emote which dropped during the Winter Wonderland 2018 event. However, for cat-lovers of all stripes out there, the grind may just be worth it.

The Overwatch Archives event runs through April 2.

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