Brand new Overwatch skins have allegedly been leaked online ahead of their launch later this summer, with them carrying the official branding of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. However, it appears that the skins can only be obtained via loot boxes, with them not being purchasable using in-game credits.
Promotional material for the skins was sent out to popular Twitch streamed “Laced Up Lauren,” who posted the following image of the package she received from developers Blizzard:
More images of skins for the game’s other Heroes have also popped up online, with each of them being related to the upcoming sporting event:
However, a leaked listing for the “Summer Games” skins on the PS Store reveals that the skins won’t be able to be purchased using in-game credits, with them instead only obtainable in special loot boxes. The listing reads:
“Celebrate Overwatch’s inaugural Summer Games with special Summer Games Loot Boxes – available for a limited time! Each contains four items, at least one of which is guaranteed to be a Summer Games skin, spray, highlight intro, emote, victory pose, player icon or voice line. There are more than 90 Summer Games items to collect – they are not available for purchase with in-game credits, so Loot Boxes are the only way to claim them.
If your Summer Games Loot Box contains an item that is already in your collection, you will instead receive credits, which can only be used to unlock non-Summer Games items.”
The listing notes that the loot boxes will be available to purchase until August 22, so Blizzard clearly wants its players to get their credit cards out a lot within a short period of time.
Blizzard hasn’t officially made an announcement regarding these skins at the time of this writing, so it remains to be seen whether or not the Summer Games loot boxes can be earned by leveling up, or if they’re only available to purchase. If it’s the latter option, then that will be an unfortunate cash grab from a developer that has thus far done a great job of maintaining an excellent relationship with their player base.
