It’s now been a whole decade since Overwatch was released, and to celebrate, Blizzard is rolling out a new event to help fans commemorate the occasion.
Overwatch Turns 10 years old
Following Overwatch‘s monumental new Season 1 and name change earlier this year, Season 2 of Overwatch added the high-climbing DPS Sierra, who comes equipped with a grapple drone and quite controversial auto-aim ability that lets her shred opponents as long as she hits the initial tracking shot.
Overwatch had been doing anniversary events every single year since the game’s 2016 launch that would offer free earnable cosmetics and sometimes even fun limited-time game modes fans can take part in. This year, however, is an extra special occasion, as it’s the popular hero FPS’ 10th anniversary, and so fans’ expectations for the event are higher than usual this time around.
10th anniversary event adds 21 new hero skins
You’re in for a legendary good time during Overwatch’s 10th Anniversary Event
Join the party to earn 21 exclusive Launch Hero Skins, 15 Anniversary Loot Boxes, community-made cosmetics, and much more May 12 – June 1pic.twitter.com/9y1gEQRB65
— Overwatch (@PlayOverwatch) May 11, 2026
Overwatch took to X to unveil its new event that celebrates its 10th anniversary, highlighting all the rewards players will be able to earn from May 12 until June 1. Every one of the 21 original Overwatch launch heroes will receive an anniversary skin, and players will also be able to earn 15 mysterious new “Anniversary” loot boxes. A host of other cosmetics, like weapon charms and name cards will be rewarded, too.
While this might seem like a solid amount of rewards for the game’s 10th anniversary, many Overwatch fans are voicing their displeasure after learning about the event’s rewards for players in China, who will get 40 legendary skins, nine mythic skins, and a wealth of valuable currency like Mythic Prisms and Overwatch Coins. It’s important to point out that Blizzard doesn’t operate Overwatch in China. Instead, Marvel Rivals company NetEase does, meaning that Blizzard has little or no say in the volume of 10th anniversary rewards Chinese players will enjoy. That said, some point out that Blizzard could have still seen what NetEase is giving its Chinese Overwatch fans and attempted to match it everywhere else.
Many fans are also expressing their dissatisfaction toward the 21 anniversary skins for all the original Overwatch heroes, specifically the fact that they look like simple recolors of each heroes’ base Overwatch 2 skins. Furthermore, these recolors seem to prominently feature purple, which is an odd choice considering the game’s main color scheme has always been orange and dark grey. Although only three of these skins are visible in the post, it can be inferred that the rest of the anniversary skins will feature the same purple color scheme. Winson’s purple anniversary skin looks especially odd judging by the image in Overwatch‘s X post, as half the skin is purple and the other half white.
It arguably would’ve been cooler to instead see each hero get an orange and grey recolor with the small gold highlights seen in the existing anniversary skins. While some heroes’ base skins like Tracer’s, Mercy’s, and Reinhardt’s already feature a color scheme close to Overwatch‘s, it would’ve been interesting to see other heroes like Widowmaker and Reaper don the classic Overwatch colors.
It’s likely too late for Overwatch to add anything to the slate of anniversary rewards it’s serving up from now until the end of May. It’s still a solid offering, and players have the Diablo crossover event that’s still ongoing until May 19.
Overwatch is available on Xbox, PlayStation, PC, and Nintendo Switch.
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