The long anticipated Overwatch Anniversary Event has barely started but it caused mixed reactions among e-sports enthusiasts. Amidst all the excitement, Blizzard faced a barrage of criticism related to the loot boxes released to commemorate the first Overwatch anniversary. The growing discontent provoked Jeff Kaplan, the Overwatch game director, address fans’ concerns and remedy the situation.
When the Overwatch Anniversary Event went live, players realized that the price for unlocking all 108 items of new loot was too high. Their frustration stemmed from the fact that one needs more than 56,000 credits to unlock all 11 legendary skins, 25 sprays, 48 voice lines, and 24 dance emotes rolled out exclusively for the event.
Fans have been voicing their anger over the social media, and the main complaints were related to the fact that the loot box system was too heavily based on grind. They proposed a number of improvements and one of them concerned the fancy cosmetics. According to players, its limited-time availability during seasonal events makes them they feel forced to grind due to the fear of missing out. Jeff Kaplan responded to players’ resentment in Overwatch’s official forums.
Kaplan said that Blizzard acknowledges their annoyance and did not miss to express his appreciation for the valuable feedback. In his post, Kaplan also confirmed that Blizzard representatives were always glad to listen to Overwatch fans and encouraged them to keep discussing the matter.
Still, Kaplan did not put forward any solutions to the loot boxes issue. Although no concrete promises were made to the disgruntled fans, it became clear that Blizzard considers changes in the loot boxes system. These changes are not likely to take effect before the end of the Anniversary event but players were pleased with Kaplan’s response and took comfort in the fact that Blizzard was listening to them.
Blizzard is not expected to impose drastic changes in the loot box system even after the current event, but players seem to appreciate the smaller, relevant ones.
The Anniversary Event runs until June 12. It is also worth mentioning that Overwatch is free to play until May 29th 11:59 PT. Players have free access to all game modes, maps and heroes.
