Overwatch Anniversary 2019
Fans rejoice! Another great year has come to an end, and with it, the 2019 season of Overwatch. With Overwatch 2 lurking beyond the horizon, this may be the last Overwatch season we actually get.
In spirit of this, Blizzard hosted the third annual Overwatch anniversary event. To celebrate the game’s third year, new loot, game modes, skins, and more were introduced for this limited-time event.
Running from the 21st of May up to the 10th of June, the Overwatch 2019 anniversary offered players the chance to earn exclusive limited-time loot.
This began immediately, with players being treated to a legendary anniversary loot box merely for logging into the game.
For just logging on, players received a loot box guaranteed to drop at least one legendary item! A perfect way to start what was a season of loot and fun.
Not only did they bring in some new loot, but they also brought back some old favorites. For the duration of the event, all the seasonal brawls were rotated daily for players to enjoy in succession.
Every day a different brawl game mode featured in the arcade. These game modes included:
- Halloween Terror
- Summer Games
- Overwatch Archives
- Lunar New Year
- Winter Wonderland
The new loot box brought with it 33 new skins, and 30 new emotes. Some of these skins were, and remain to be, some of the best skins ever introduced to the game. D. Va’s academy, Mei’s Honeydew, and Winston’s gargoyle come to mind.
The emotes were also very well crafted, although none stood out compared to the incredible skins they introduced.
As well as all the new emotes, skins, sprays, and highlight intros the new loot box brought, the anniversary loot box also had the ability to drop players items from previous anniversaries and seasonal events.
On top of all this goodness, Blizzard also offered players another juicy bonus. For every 50-anniversary loot boxes a player purchased, they would receive a bonus legendary anniversary loot box.
Much like the one you got for logging in, this legendary loot box had a guaranteed chance to drop one or more legendary items. Given that the anniversary box had such a large loot pool, this was quite the temptation for players.
A chance to earn time exclusive skins and items of seasons gone was an alluring prospect and one which suckered many of us into the loot box trap.
Of course, if paying for loot is not your thing, or you’re morally against micro-transactions, you can simply play the game to earn these loot boxes like normal.
The event didn’t last too long. Lasting the mere 20 days between May 21st and June 10th, players needed to be quick on the draw to make the most of their time to maximize their loot.
If any players were on holiday or unable to play, then my heart goes out to them for missing this brilliant event.
Hopefully, they are around next year for the 2020 anniversary! Or better yet, the release of Overwatch 2.