It appears that the recently released Overwatch 2 is set to continue the franchise's longstanding history of seasonal events, which are a great way of bringing the community together and offering some unique limited-time content for players to enjoy. While the title has already enjoyed a seasonal event for Halloween, Blizzard plans to add a spate of events in fairly quick succession in the coming weeks.
Despite the predictable levels of excitement regarding these events for Overwatch 2, there is an aspect of them that is not sitting well with fans. It appears that each of these three upcoming events will only possess one freely obtainable skin, some of which are pre-existing ones. When compared to the level of skin accessibility that players have enjoyed historically in the franchise, it is clear why many think one unlockable skin per season is simply not enough.
The Impact of Overwatch 2 Being Free-to-play
When discussing the backlash from the lack of earnable content in Overwatch 2 when compared to its predecessor, it's important to first contextualize what aspects of the new game led to the change. Unlike the original game, Overwatch 2 is a free-to-play title, which has significantly increased the accessibility of the release for a huge multitude of potential players.
To offset the loss of income that comes frmo making a title of this caliber freely available, Blizzard has predictably opted to add a seasonally-updated battle pass for Overwatch 2 as its primary source of monetization. While free-to-play fans can still earn some rewards from the battle pass, players will have to purchase a premium battle pass to receive the most attractive cosmetics and in-game items. One result of this system of monetization is that many of the pre-existing means of unlocking loot from the first Overwatch were removed as a part of the sequel, with things like Overwatch's free loot boxes and earnable skins now being a relative thing of the past.
Earnable Skins In Upcoming Overwatch 2 Events
Overwatch 2's general lack of organic ways to earn skins without spending money feels particularly obvious in the list of rewards that are set to come with the game's upcoming season two events. The first Overwatch's in-game events were renowned for the high amount of unlockable skins that they possessed, but it appears that each of season two's upcoming events will only possess one earnable skin each.
The longstanding Winter Wonderland event is set to return in Overwatch 2 between December 14 to January 4, and will boast a brand-new skin called Ice Queen Brigitte for players to unlock via challenges. Later on in season two, players can look forward to the Battle for Olympus event, and players will be able to earn the Winged Victory Mercy skin during this particular occasion. The last event for season two that is currently known is the Lunar New Year event, another long-established part of the Overwatch formula that will see players able to earn the Kkachi Echo skin.
It is worth mentioning that both the Kkachi Echo and Winged Victory Mercy skins are pre-existing, with Brigitte's Ice Queen skin being the only brand-new reward that fans will be able to unlock. This has only angered fans further, since many longstanding players already own the Echo and Mercy cosmetics. While it is understandable that Blizzard has to curtail the amount of free content it provides in order to turn a profit, such a jarring deviation from the first game's norm is only exacerbating the level of criticism that Overwatch 2 is facing.
Overwatch 2 is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
