Overwatch Anniversary Event Potentially Leaked
Dataminers have uncovered a trove of information regarding a potential Overwatch anniversary event.
News by Matt Kim, News Editor
Updated on 12 May 2017
It's been almost one year since Overwatch stormed the video game scene, and according to some crafty dataminers, Blizzard might be prepping a one year anniversary event to celebrate the occasion. Although Blizzard has yet to comment.
Much like how Overwatch's last event, "Uprising", was caught by dataminers, so too has the news that Blizzard is prepping a big anniversary event, complete with a new Anniversary re-release of the game and whole bunch of Loot Boxes.
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According to the bloggers at TrueAchievements, who uncovered both a box art and store description for the Anniversary release of Overwatch, the celebration package will include the full game, 10 bonus Loot Boxes, 5 Origin Skins for unnamed heroes, a baby Winston pet for World of WarCraft, a Tracer hero for Heroes of the Storm, and some unrevealed goodies.
In addition, the anniversary Loot Boxes will include as many as 100 potential loot prizes according to a datamined description of the event. Players will be able to win anniversary skins for many of the game's characters, along with sprays, highlight intros, poses, icons, and voice lines. Although there's still no clue as to what any of these cosmetic prizes will look like.
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The description also reveals that the event will run through June 5, 2017. Since Overwatch was released on May 24, 2016, it means that the event could begin fairly soon, some on Reddit predict May 16th which is only a few days away. Unless Blizzard only plans to have the even run for a week and a half, the event will likely drop sooner rather than later.
Blizzard has yet to officially confirm the anniversary event, but have tacitly acknowledged its existence in a Twitter response.
@KingofWaranon No timing details yet.
— Overwatch (@PlayOverwatch) May 10, 2017
Although the timing is pretty close to the end of Overwatch's last event, a one-year anniversary is a good chance for celebration, especially considering the kind of reception Overwatch has received since it launched a year ago.
Overwatch is one of the most popular new IPs in recent memory, spawning a legion of fans across a wide demographic. Since its launch, Overwatch has taken over the video game fandom by storm, with fanart, cosplays, and all sorts of other fan tributes, expressing love for the new series. With its diverse cast of characters and inclusive message, Overwatch is almost the perfect vehicle for all kinds of gamers.
On the competitive front, Overwatch is currently prepping its own esports league, though not without some controversy. Activison Blizzard appears to be pinning a large esports revolution on Overwatch, transforming the current esports leagues by introducing new concepts like permanent, regional teams.
USgamer reached out to Blizzard for further comment regarding the anniversary event and will update the story accordingly.
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Matt Kim
Matt Kim is a former freelance writer who's covered video games and digital media. He likes video games as spectacle and is easily distracted by bright lights or clever bits of dialogue. He also once wrote about personal finance, but that's neither here nor there.
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