Now that the Summer Games event in Overwatch is coming to a close, I think it’s a great opportunity to reflect on what the event did well and what it got wrong. And moreover, what our feedback as a community means for the future of this game right now.
First off, I’m in favor of recurring seasonal events, especially for games like Overwatch. The Summer Games provide new attractions for inactive players like Lucioball, rewards for active ones like exclusive skins, and give Overwatch an additional stream of revenue to fund the development of future modes, maps, and heroes. Events like these are objectively good for the health of the game’s development and the size of its community in both the short and long term.
So what's the problem?
The problem is that this particular event has invalidated a currency sold to players and gone against an established set of principles for the game’s own monetization rules. I really doubt this has legal repercussion or entitles anyone to a refund, but what I can say is that in context of the game’s conventional monetization structure, the Summer Games are difficult to distinguish from a cheap cash grab.
The 'rarity' of these seasonal cosmetics is as manufactured as it gets.
If you have no idea what I’m talking about, here’s a quick synopsis of what’s going on.
After you purchase Overwatch for $39.99 on PC or $49.99 on console, you’ll start earning loot boxes as you play. You can also purchase them for $1.99 for two and up to $39.99 for fifty. Every loot box has the chance to contain cosmetic rewards like skins, emotes, sprays, player icons, victory poses, highlight intros, voice lines, or a de facto currency that until recently was used towards “unlocking an item of your choice.” Every cosmetic reward has a gold price associated with its rarity that distinguishes unremarkable common items from the prestigious legendary goodies.
Except for rewards from the Summer Games. Those rewards can’t be crafted with gold, and must instead be divined out of the Summer Games loot boxes available from August 2nd to the 22nd. The reasoning behind this decision, as Overwatch’s genuinely transparent and caring game director Jeff Kaplan puts it, is that “sometimes we want things to feel rare and special.” This is a pleasant notion, as any player skilled and persistent enough to unlock the illustrious Season 1 animated Ilios spray will attest to. Having a veteran reward that others don’t, which showcases your proficiency and determination, feels good.
But the problem with the Summer Games rewards feeling “rare and special” is that players can buy them. Furthermore, the “rarity” of these seasonal cosmetics is as manufactured as it gets. Unlike the player-driven economies of DOTA 2 and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Overwatch’s marketplace is a closed and controlled environment. The prices are fixed and currency can not be exchanged between players. Barring achievement and competitive rewards, the idea of having “rare and special” items worked into such an inorganic economy is frankly insulting.
If items are to feel rare and special, they should not be purchasable with real money. And if they are purchasable with real money, they should be craftable with gold as evidenced by Blizzard’s reactionary change of policy, altered well into the Summer Games event.
The Summer Games may have been conceived with the best intentions in mind, but the reality for most players is a frustrating compulsion to spend real money when the one skin they want can’t be obtained by any other means — an unpleasant process for a game priced at $59.99.
But this practice could change in the future. As Jeff Kaplan puts it: “If everyone is entitled to that Genji Epic Skin, we’ll have to reconsider our design philosophy in the future.” As a matter of fact, everyone with enough gold to unlock an epic is entitled to that Genji skin... you told them so in your policy.
For more on Overwatch, check out Overwatch HQ and keep it here on IGN.
James Duggan is the host of Overwatch HQ and cries about micro-transactions.
Find him on Twitter @ThuggnDuggn.
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