Update 1:
The main Overwatch account has officially announced the Overwatch Summer Games 2017. Along with this reveal, Blizzard has released a Developer Update video that gives some insight on what to expect. Game Director Jeff Kaplan has confirmed that Mercy and Junkrat will be getting legendary skins, along with Mercy and McCree getting some love as well. Kaplan also explained that there will be a credit reduction for old items, so a legendary skin from 2016 will now cost 1,000 credits as opposed to the original 3,000.
Lucioball is also confirmed to return and it will feature both the original stadium and the new Sydney, Australia stadium. Thankfully, there have also been some tweaks to the mechanics such as Lucio’s ultimate giving him a speed boost and removing the ability to boop enemies. There will also be a competitive Lucioball system that will reward you with a special spray if you finish your placement matches and a unique spray if you reach the Top 500.
Overwatch’s Summer Games 2017 will officially begin on August 8 and end August 29.
Original Story:
It has been a long winding road since the leaks began for Overwatch’s next event, the Summer Games 2017. While there have been multiple datamines, curious stats appearing, and audio cues, we never got official confirmation from Blizzard of this event happening. Thankfully, all of the speculation can now be put to rest as the official Blizzard Australia and New Zealand Twitter account released an imagine teasing Lucioball’s return.
We can’t wait to get this party started…
Wish you were here for a pick-up game, @OverwatchBrasil!
Set in Sydney, Australia, the image shows off a new stadium to play the brawl in that’s located right by the Syndey Opera House. If that wasn’t confirmation enough, the official Overwatch Brasil account replied that they already have their Lucioball tickets.
@Blizzard_ANZ Não se preocupe @BlizzardANZ—já temos nossos ingressos.
Nos vemos no gramado dentro de alguns dias!
While there is no official date, it does say that the event itself is taking place in August. Given this is when the last Summer Games event happened, players should expect it sometime within the next week or two. We also know via a datamine that this event could very well be beach themed and that it could feature 40+ new cosmetic items. However, this part has not been confirmed, though given there are no Olympic Games this year, it would make sense for Blizzard to shift to a basic summer theme.
One curious thing to note is this is the first time we are going to Australia in Overwatch, which suffered multiple large-scale disasters during the Omnic Crisis. This is also the home of Junkrat and Roadhog, so one can hope we get some special legendary skins for these two villains. Given Doomfist just dropped don’t expect a ton, if any, major balance changes to characters since those all came with the last update.
Whether this will be the only arena is yet to be seen, but one has to wonder if Blizzard decided to add anything special to change up the event. Now if you excuse me, I need to go brush up on my Lucio booping for this event.
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(Updated) Blizzard Officially Teases Overwatch’s Summer Games 2017