Overwatch Anniversary Event Brings New Skins, A Map, And More

Overwatch was released two years ago this month. To celebrate the popular game's second birthday, Blizzard is holding an anniversary event that will include a new Deathmatch map, Petra, and more than 50 new cosmetic items to collect.

Among those are eight brand-new Legendary skins and three Epic-rarity skins. Additionally, Doomfist, Moira, and Brigitte are getting new dance emotes. What's more, all previously released seasonal cosmetic items, and "most" of the prior brawls for Arcade (on a daily, rotating basis), will be back for the new anniversary event.

As for the new map, Petra is being added to the Deathmatch hopper. Additionally, a new Competitive Mode is being added to Deathmatch. This sounds like a full-featured mode, as it includes placement matches, skill rating division, and leaderboards to track progress. This appears to be separate from Overwatch's existing Competitive Mode.

The anniversary event, which runs May 22 - June 11, also adds new loot boxes. Everyone who logs in during the event gets one free loot box that guarantees a Legendary-level item. If you want to spend money, picking up the 50 loot box bundle comes with a bonus of one legendary loot box. Additionally, all previously released loot boxes for seasonal events are included for the anniversary event.

Blizzard also announced a Legendary edition of Overwatch that is due to launch on May 22, which is when the game's second anniversary event begins. This version of the game--which will only be sold digitally--includes the base game and 15 skins total, comprised of Legendary, Epic, and Origin skins.

Finally, Blizzard will offer yet another free weekend for Overwatch that runs May 25-28. Blizzard confirmed that PS4 players do not need a PlayStation Plus membership to take part, though it's unclear if Xbox Live Gold is required on Xbox One.