Those dastardly loot boxes containing random goodies might be a thing of the past with the release of Overwatch 2 later this year, but a recent survey suggests monetization of the hero shooter may be more aggressive elsewhere.
Apparently, Overwatch 2’s in-game store could charge you up to $US45 ($62) for a single skin, or at least, it looks like Blizzard is testing the idea. Twitter user Portergauge recently uploaded screenshots of a survey his friend received from Overwatch asking them how much money they would be willing to pay for skins and other rewards in Overwatch 2. The survey asked players if they were “very likely”, “somewhat”. likely’, ‘neither likely nor unlikely’, ‘somewhat unlikely’ or ‘very unlikely’ that they would like to buy new in-game rewards.
Image: Blizzard
The prices requested in the survey are as follows:
- Mythic Skin: $44.99 ($62)
- Legendary Skin Pack (Including Weapon Charm, Player Icon, Victory Pose, Voice Line, Name Card, and Spray): $29.99 ($42)
- Legendary Skin: $24.99 ($35)
- Emote Highlight Intro Souvenir: $19.99 ($28)
- Char of Weapon: $9.99 ($14)
- 3-pack of sprays: $4.99 ($7)
Phew, a friend of mine got an Overwatch survey for his account, some of these prices they are measuring for OW2 are very expensive.
I hope it’s just him getting one of the higher price surveys and not an indication that they’re leaning towards monetization that much. pic.twitter.com/RWr7LbwkLB
— Portergauge 🏳️🌈 (@Portergauge) July 30, 2022
“This survey is entirely intended to better understand player preferences for the different types of Overwatch 2 cosmetics,” an Overwatch spokesperson told Kotaku via email. “The prices shown in the survey were randomized per user and are not indicative of the final price. We plan to share details about our Shop and Battle Pass system closer to our launch on October 4th.”
Since the survey emails were sent out, their asking prices have not gone down well with players.
“I literally at any cost would rather buy Overwatch 2 than free to play with money everywhere,” said one Twitter user.
“And here I thought I was getting hooked on Halo Infinite already lmao,” said another Twitter user.
“I know some people [are] he will defend the prices and say ‘Don’t buy, etc[ a free to play] game,” said one Reddit user. “People like you who choose to stand up for this crap are why the game industry [is] entering [an] abyss”.
Read more: Overwatch 2 will replace the original and become unplayable in October
Image: Blizzard
During Overwatch 2’s “reveal event,” which detailed the game’s seasonal roadmap and included a cinematic trailer for its newest tank character, Junker Queen, the Overwatch team clarified that Overwatch 2 will not have any loot boxes. The event resulted in a battle pass and an in-game store coming to the game.
Back in the old days of Overwatch, players unlocked skins, emotes, voice lines, and sprays by leveling up and unlocking loot boxes. If players wanted to unlock a specific skin, such as Zarya’s Totally ’80s skin (her only good one), they would have to accumulate enough in-game coins to receive duplicate items in loot boxes to unlock the skin in their gallery of characters or buy a bunch of loot boxes in hopes that the skin was among your loot. Overwatch also has a dedicated in-game store where players can purchase loot boxes with real currency. Compared to Overwatch 2’s asking price for a mythic skin, buying 50 loot boxes cost players $39.99 ($56), exactly five dollars less.
It’s likely that the Overwatch 2 skin prices in the survey won’t be the final price when the game is released later this year, and that it was the Overwatch team’s way of assessing how much players are willing to spend on cosmetic items. However, it’s not a good sign when a game asks you to cough up the same amount of money for a full game for a single skin.
Overwatch 2 will be released on October 4th.