It’s hard to believe it’s been a full year since Blizzard released Overwatch and took the FPS market by storm. The franchise has grown quicker than anyone expected, though we shouldn’t be surprised with a behemoth like Blizzard in charge of development. At the same time, Heroes of the Storm really struggled to capture a significant portion of the MOBA market, so it was by no means a “sure thing” when the game launched. Still, with millions of regular players and a fan base that shows no signs of slowing down, there’s no denying that Overwatch is a smash hit. Blizzard is celebrating one year since release with the Overwatch Anniversary Event, launching May 23rd.
Blizzard has put together a pretty cool video documenting the progress the game has made in its first year. We’ve included it below for your viewing pleasure.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-nf4nqdZRA
As far as what we can actually expect from the Overwatch Anniversary Event, there aren’t too many details released just yet. We may learn more as it gets closer to next Tuesday, or we could just be surprised during launch. With the release so close I honestly won’t be that upset if I don’t know exactly what’s coming. There’s something satisfying about logging on after the patch and checking out everything that’s new for yourself. Data miners have gleaned that there will definitely be at least 5 new items for each hero, with many heroes receiving multiple skins. I’m sure for such a big event that Blizzard will do their best to celebrate the Overwatch Anniversary in style.
Launching alongside the Overwatch Anniversary will be a digital “Game of the Year” edition of the game for PC, PS4, and Xbox One. The game will include the base game, “origin” skins originally included in the Origin edition, and ten free loot boxes. “Purchasing the GotY Edition also unlocks Overwatch-themed in-game items in Diablo III, World of Warcraft, Starcraft II, and Heroes of the Storm.”
If you haven’t given Overwatch a try, the Overwatch Anniversary Event is a good time to give it a go as Blizzard will allow anyone to log on for free from May 26th through the 29th.
Disney Speedstorm, Gameloft’s free-to-play kart racer, will enter its latest season with a wintery backdrop of Arendelle. Let It Go will add Anna, Elsa, Olaf, Kristoff, and Hans as racers. As always, they’ll have unique moves and abilities.
Oaken and other musical movie crew members will be unlocked, along with a new Golden Pass. After fan feedback, the developer is rebalancing this aspect of the release so you can progress faster and unlock more rewards.
The developer also announced on Twitter that it’s lowering in-game shop prices starting today, and if you’ve paid for microtransactions, you’ll get a big payout. The French studio appears to be betting on this season’s success.
Adding non-Frozen characters Oswald, Ortensia, and WALL-E could also help. A comprehensive game update should bring back lapsed players and attract new ones. Will you challenge the kart racer?
Bungie has pulled a contentious $15 starter pack from Season of the Wish, which launched yesterday. The pack had a poor selection and was marketed to new players, which the community strongly opposed.
The starter pack proudly stated that players could “experience the power of build-defining Exotic weapons by instantly unlocking three of Destiny 2’s finest: Traveler’s Chosen, Ruinous Effigy, and Sleeper Simulant.” An exotic ship, a sparrow, a ghost shell, 125,000 glimmer, 50 enhancement cores, five enhancement prisms, and one ascendant shard are also included.
This offering may seem harmless to a new player, but Forbes’ Paul Tassi says, “You sort of have to be a Destiny 2 player to understand what an outrageously bad deal this is.” The Forsaken Pack, another Bungie release, includes two dozen Exotics, a dungeon, and a raid. It cost $20 and is now $5. It looks bad, from what we can tell.
Guardians retaliated with negative Steam reviews. They orchestrated the DLC page to include “Capitalism,” “Crime,” and “Psychological Horror” user tags, which is funny.
After Bungie pulled the pack, Redditor Grizz3d summarized the community response: “I don’t get how that starter pack was approved. What part of stealing from new players wasn’t going to result in community outrage? Bungie’s disconnect with players is shocking. I’m glad you got rid of the pack, but it’s disappointing that Bungie thought it was a good idea.”
This follows the Witcher 3 crossover armour sets, which look great but are expensive. Sony’s independent live service outpost is in danger due to a delayed expansion and studio layoffs.
Sony announced last year that it would plant trees for Horizon Forbidden West PlayStation fans who unlocked a simple trophy in the open-world game. This, in partnership with several charities, sought to protect the global environment and biodiversity.
Over a year later, it released a trailer showing its progress. The company has planted 600,000 trees worldwide, restoring 1,800 acres. More importantly, the gaming industry has planted 2.5 million trees worldwide.
Gaming is fun, but we must protect our world. Sony has taken steps to be more environmentally friendly, such as adding energy-saving features to the PS5 and shipping all its products in fully recyclable packaging.
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