Blizzard has clarified it probably won't start charging you $45 for a premium skin after an Overwatch 2 survey caused a bit of a stir amongst players.
The survey, which went out at the end of July, had questions relating to purchasable cosmetics and how much players would be willing to pay. While the questions were the same across every survey, players were fed a variety of price points for Mythic skins—around $15 to $45.
Portergauge, whose friend received the higher-end pricing, tweeted about the survey saying: "Oof, friend of mine got an Overwatch survey for his account, some of these prices they're gauging for OW2 are really expensive. I hope this is just him getting one of the higher price surveys and not an indication that they're learning towards this much monetisation."
Oof, friend of mine got an Overwatch survey for his account, some of these prices they're gauging for OW2 are really expensive. I hope this is just him getting one of the higher price surveys and not an indication that they're leaning towards this much monetization. pic.twitter.com/RWr7LbwkLBJuly 30, 2022
The whole thing caused a bit of a panic, with people worrying that $45 for a character skin was about to become the new norm. Now, Blizzard has officially confirmed to GamesRadar+ that the prices fed to players aren't intended to be the final cost. "This survey is entirely intended to better understand player preferences for different types of Overwatch 2 cosmetics," a spokesperson said. "Prices displayed in the survey were randomised per user and are not indicative of final pricing. We plan to share details on our Shop and Battle Pass system closer to our October 4 launch."
While players cottoned onto the randomised pricing fairly quickly, it's nice to have a firm confirmation from Blizzard that that's all it was. With Overwatch 2 phasing out loot boxes, it'll be interesting to see how easy (or time-gated) obtaining new cosmetics is. Thankfully, at least it seems like they cost nearly as much as a brand-new game.
