Highlights
- The future of the Overwatch League is uncertain, raising questions about how it will impact Overwatch 2 and its esports scene.
- The possibility of the Overwatch League ending could make themed skins and cosmetics obsolete, leaving players wondering what will happen to them.
- It is uncertain whether Overwatch League skins will be deleted or if players will have a limited time to obtain them before they are eliminated if the league tab is eradicated.
Overwatch 2's professional scene has been left rather ambiguous over the past few months. How exactly this will affect the teams in the Overwatch League is unknown at the time. Since it's been implied that this year is the last hurrah for the league as fans know it, questions regarding how this might impact Overwatch 2 have been rampant.
It was reported in June of this year that a vote concerning the future of the Overwatch League would be held at the end of the season. While this news was initially released months ago, the Grand Finals just finished. If the Overwatch League is ending, a critical part of the Overwatch 2 shop could be left in a strange position.
Overwatch League Ending Could Make Its Themed Skins Obsolete
Since teams like the San Francisco Shock are being offered a $6 million payment from Blizzard if they decide to leave the Overwatch League, it's clear why the state of the esport is in flux. The official Twitter recently posted a statement about the organization, but it was brief. A "revitalized esports program" could mean that the Overwatch League will continue, or it could signal the start of something entirely new.
While there are pros and cons to the league ending, it doesn't answer the question of what will happen to the themed cosmetics and skins that have been created. Over the past five years, more than 120 Overwatch League skins have been curated for different teams, which is a sizable percentage of the nearly 600 skins available in the game.
One Overwatch League team, the Chengdu Hunters, already departed the franchise in July. This announcement came as a surprise to some of its fans, and it was even more shocking that the skins for the Chinese team were removed from the Overwatch 2 shop on July 7. Of course, it's important to note that they are still available to equip.
Some people have theorized that Blizzard will simply do away with the Overwatch League shop category. Seeing as there are quite a few Overwatch skins that are no longer available, this wouldn't be the first time that once widely available skins shift to being rare. Following this potential decision, it's likely that Overwatch League Tokens will also be removed from the game seeing as this currency is only available by watching league matches or via real money.
It seems less probable that Overwatch 2 will delete Overwatch League skins that people have already obtained just because the organization is changing or ending. Even after one of the most controversial skins in the hero shooter, the Zarya Alien skin that was dedicated to "Sinatraa", came under fire, it wasn't taken from anyone's inventories after it was removed. Instead, players could keep it or receive a refund.
If the Overwatch League tab is eradicated, players will probably have a limited amount of time to get their hands on several of the team skins before they're eliminated. Of course, this has some wondering if the tradition of crafting a unique championship skin from the Grand Finals is going to continue. The Dallas Fuel's Chained King Reaper just debuted in honor of the team's 2022 victory, but it seems uncertain if the winner of this year's matches, the Florida Mayhem, will be getting one.
Perhaps Blizzard will fully address what is going to happen with the league around the time Season 7 of Overwatch 2 releases. After all, it seems the details are currently being finalized. Unfortunately, what exactly will happen to the league skins is still to be determined.
Overwatch 2 is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
