Overwatch might be poised to be the next big esport, but its newest update actually celebrates a real sporting event.
Blizzard’s hit team-based shooteris celebrating the Summer Olympics in Rio (which opens Friday) with a seasonal event that runs from now until August 22, called Summer Games. During the event, all loot boxes (which you can purchase or earn by leveling up your account through playing) will include at least one Summer Games-themed item, which includes over 100 new cosmetic items. This includes new skins for Tracer, McCree, Lucio, Zarya, and more. Special events and new items can keep players engaged. The fact that these skins are only available for a limited time could also encourage players to spend real money for a chance to unlock them before they disappear.
You can only earn these items during the event, but you’ll have them forever once you unlock them. Unlike with regular cosmetic items, you can’t buy them with in-game credits. You’ll have to depend on loot boxes.
Above: Sporty!
Summer Games also includes a new mode, Lúcioball. Two teams of three, all playing as the speedy Lúcio, compete in a futuristic take on soccer.
“Equipped with jump pads and speed-boosting walls, this unique arena amplifies Lúcio’s abilities, allowing players to punch, glide, block, bounce, and boop and their way to victory,” Blizzard notes on its site. “Each game of Lúcioball lasts four minutes, and the team that scores the most goals in that time … wins!”
This is the first seasonal event for Overwatch, but Blizzard notes that it is planning more for the team-based shooter.