A legendary skin is available in Overwatch for free – all you have to do is: Don’t miss your chance.
The launch of Overwatch 2 was a wild rodeo ride that pushed both players and developers to their limits. In addition to numerous minor and major bugs, server issues and DDoS attacks caused difficulties. Now, many errors have been fixed, and slowly but surely, peace is returning. Blizzard is using this to apologize to players and ask for reconciliation with a free, legendary skin.
What’s going on with Overwatch 2? Blizzard also apparently acknowledges that the launch of Overwatch was far from optimal. They announced on Twitter:
If the launch of Overwatch 2 is problematic, you make it up to the players.
With this, the developers announced a free skin, a weapon charm, and double XP weekends.
What kind of skin is it? The legendary skin is the “Cursed Captain” skin for Reaper. The skin depicts Reaper as the obviously cursed captain of a ghost ship. In true “Davy Jones” style, the skin even features a small kraken that coils over Reaper’s cloak, and the armor is covered in seaweed and shells.
Thematically, the skin fits perfectly with Halloween, and it is safe to assume that it would have been included in the Halloween update anyway – but probably as a premium skin with a purchase option.
Additionally, Blizzard is launching a weapon charm that you can stick onto your heroes’ guns. It is represented as a large health pack that you can also find on various maps to restore your health points. The charm is, of course, just a cosmetic gimmick – real healing should not be expected.
How do you get the skin? To receive the skin and the charm, you just need to log into Overwatch 2 starting from October 25. Then both cosmetic items will be automatically unlocked for your account and can be permanently used in-game.
The skin and the weapon charm will be available until the end of the season, i.e., until early December. You have about 6 weeks from October 25 to claim both rewards.
What about the double XP weekends? If you’re trying to progress efficiently to level 80 in the Battle Pass, you should wait for the start of the double XP weekends. During these weekends, match XP will be doubled, allowing for faster progress in the Battle Pass.
Exact dates for this have not yet been announced, but there are supposed to be several weekends that Blizzard will announce soon.
However, please note that only the XP from matches will be doubled, not from daily or weekly challenges.
How the community reacts: The reactions from the player base are rather subdued, especially in the Overwatch subreddit. Many are unhappy that there is a skin for a hero who is played by only a fraction of the players. They would have preferred if there were enough credits for a legendary skin of their choice instead of a Reaper skin now.
However, some feel this is a first good step towards improvement to get Overwatch 2 back on the right track.
Some speculate that this is not a gesture of goodwill at all, but that Blizzard had already planned these free gifts for the launch of the Halloween event and is now just turning it into a “We’re sorry” package. However, this is difficult to verify.
What do you think about the skin and the plans? A step in the right direction? Or does Overwatch 2 need fundamental changes?
Another legendary skin can currently be claimed for free if you like the new heroine Kiriko.
