Less than 24 hours since its release, Overwatch 2's latest season has ignited angry Reddit threads and TikTok comments from fans who are unhappy with the value of its paid hero skins.
Most of the criticisms target the $40 Ultimate Battle Pass Bundle which includes two highly-anticipated Diablo-themed skins: Lilith Moira and Inarius Pharah. The skins transform both Overwatch heroes into the deceptive characters from Blizzard's dark fantasy action RPG, and even gives them new voice lines during combat. Of the two skins, however, Lilith Moira is the star of the season, flawlessly capturing Moira's controversial reputation in the community and the game's story.
But since its launch last year, Overwatch 2's expensive shop prices and inconsistent skin quality have repeatedly upset players, especially those who were used to the original Overwatch's loot box system. The hero shooter's monetization was frequently mentioned in the flood of negative reviews it received when it launched on Steam last month, making it the worst-reviewed game on the platform. Many players feel that the skins, which are often only sold through bundles with other cosmetics, are overpriced, and want Blizzard to reward players with more of the game's premium currency for playing it.
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While Blizzard has made some changes in response—like allowing you to buy Overwatch 1 cosmetics with a secondary currency rewarded through regular challenges—the $40 bundle has rekindled many of the same criticisms over what players feel is inconsistent with previous seasons.
In season 6, Blizzard sold a $40 bundle that included three story missions and their associated challenges and cosmetic rewards, three Legendary skins, 2,000 OW Coins (the premium currency), the premium battle pass (including new support Illari), 20 tier skips, and the DPS hero Sojourn (if you hadn't already unlocked her). This season, the $40 bundle includes two Legendary skins, one Epic skin, 2,000 OW Coins, the premium battle pass, and 20 tier skips.
You could try to compare the exact monetary value of both bundles all day, but the problem seems to stem from the $10 price hike from similar bundles in seasons 3 through 5, and the fact that it's the only way you can buy the two signature Diablo skins.
Several threads have shot up to the top of the Overwatch subreddit from people shocked by the price of the bundle. One of them has over 4,500 upvotes and hundreds of comments, many of which agree that the bundle isn't worth it.
"[For real] I saw this [Moira] skin and was so hyped, like you couldn't have just let us get it as its own separate thing? Why do I have to buy a bundle with a skin for a character I hate and never play, just to get another skin?" Reddit user Ena_Ems_17 said.
"I main Moira, and I'd love love love that skin (finally she gets a real kick ass skin) but there's [zero] chance I'm paying $60 Australian for it," Saintza said.
Over on TikTok, there are plenty of videos celebrating the arrival of the Lilith Moira skin, but their comments have several people irritated by the price tag.
"[I don't know] if I can justify $40 for this skin 🤕" PikuhhBoo wrote in the comments of a video showcasing the skin by Pookie K.
"I'm so annoyed that [you] can't just buy her/the highlight intro INDIVIDUALLY! I don't want to spend $40 on the massive bundle😭" Aly wrote in a video by Sunnyyy.
Mixed in with the criticisms over the $40 Diablo bundle are other comments from people who think the Mythic Hanzo skin at the end of the premium battle pass is also a disappointment compared to past seasons. Onryō Hanzo turns the bowman into a ghostly demon and gives him a skeletal dragon ultimate, but it only has a fraction of the customization options found in other Mythic skins.
When asked about this on Twitter (X), executive producer Jared Neuss said, "Each skin will be unique. Hanzo leans much more heavily into VFX differentiation instead of model changes. There isn't a set blueprint for Mythics at the moment."
Regardless of how you perceive the value of the Diablo bundle or the Mythic Hanzo skin, Overwatch season 7's inconsistencies haven't been a welcome surprise. Plenty of people missed the blog post with one sentence about the Lilith Moira skin bundle, and there wasn't any obvious reason to expect the Mythic Hanzo skin would have a limited set of customization options.
I think it's normal to expect things to shift around in a live service game's first year, but without clearly communicating it beforehand, it can be easy to think the price increases and other cosmetic variations are made purely out of greed, especially in a game that has routinely upset its fans since its release. Season 7's new map and surprisingly fun new PVE mode help fill the gaps but it's hard not to be skeptical now about the quality of future seasons and how much I might have to pay for my favorite skins.
