Overwatch launched its Summer Games promotion earlier this week, adding a whole bunch of new, sport-themed cosmetic items. However, some folks are unhappy with how that content’s being rolled out, especially the fact that you can’t purchase these items using currency earned in-game. However, Blizzard doesn’t plan on changing that any time soon.
The new Summer Games items come randomly as part of special loot boxes that you can either purchase or earn in-game. That’s also how the normal items work, except that you can also purchase the items you specifically want through currency that accumulates over time. The Summer Games items don’t have that option, leaving you to either wait for the random drop you want or maybe just buy (with real money) a whole lot of loot boxes.
In a post on the official message boards, director Jeff Kaplan wrote, “Sometimes we want to give everything to everybody. For example, a few weeks ago we gave everyone a new hero – Ana. Ana came with skins, emotes, sprays, highlight intros etc. that could all be purchased with credits. We also want to add new maps to the game and new stuff like the Lucioball brawl that’s available to everyone equally. But sometimes we want things to feel rare and special.”
Blizzard wants to continue on their current track through the remainder of the event, but is open to change. ”Maybe people will be feeling differently at the end of the vent. Maybe not. If we need to make things less rare – if everyone is entitled to that Genji Epic Skin – we’ll have to reconsider our design philosophy in the future.”
