Overwatch 2’s ongoingMy Hero Academiaevent has found itself in something of a quagmire. Just like the concurrent Halloween Terror event before it,Overwatch 2’s latest anime tie-in event has been hit with controversy.
October 17 saw the beginning ofOverwatch 2’sMy Hero Academiacrossover event, which will run until October 30. The event offers a variety of rewards related to the anime—including a number of sprays, XP boosts, and a weapon charm. More notable are the five skins that have arrived as part of the event, with characters like Deku, Uraraka, All Might, Toga, and Shigaraki seeing representation.
Overwatch 2’s “Pay-To-Win” All Might Skin Explained
One of those skins,the All Might skin forOverwatch 2’s Reinhardt, has become the center of a new controversy. Unlike other examples of cosmetics in online games accused of providing unfair advantages, however, this situation doesn’t stem from the skin itself. Rather, using the skin seems to cancel out one of the character’s voicelines—specifically, any voiceline that would telegraph Reinhardt’s powerful AoE ultimate, Earthshatter. Players have reported that wearing this skin causes the line not to play, giving the skin a sizable edge over other options. This situation is nothing new for the landscape of online AAA games, as any edge a cosmetic could offer, however unintended, will not go without use by players for long.
As of October 19, this issue has been resolved—at least according to Blizzard’s bug report forum. On the ‘Blizz Tracker’ section of this official forum, the issue withReinhardt’sMy Hero Academiaskinis acknowledged. Moreover, Blizzard claims to have fixed this bug, along with other issues pertaining to cosmetics. This is great news for fans, but it won’t please everyone; some have alleged that the skin also causes the visual effects of Earthshatter to glitch out, compounding the balance issue. Furthermore, the same patch notes claim another audio issue related to theMHAevent, a missing sound effect for Reaper’s Shigaraki skin, is currently unsolved.
This Isn’t The First Time Reinhardt’s Been In This Situation
Most publishers and studios in the industry take great care to emphasize the ‘cosmetic’ factor of microtransaction offerings, especially after the uproar surroundingBattlefront 2’s pay-to-win lootboxes. Despite this, player communities are extraordinarily adept at finding ways to turn cosmetic apparel into a gameplay advantage. However, when Reinhardt has been at the forefront of these issues, it’s usually no fault of the skin’s actual design. In fact, a very similar problem occurred with his Gridironhardt skin; both instances saw the omission (or near-omission) of the telegraphing voiceline for Earthshatter. Gridironhardt is also supposedly fixed, but some players still report issues with it to this day.
Overwatch 2’s All Might Fiasco Is Just Like Some Other Skin Controversies
A licensed skin causing a balancing issue is also nothing new, asOverwatch 2has had a few tussles with this conundrum. A notable example is the ongoing bug with Reaper’s Shigaraki skin mentioned prior. It’s also not dissimilar to what happened with the introduction of cel-shadingtoFortniteviaRick and Morty.
However, while most examples tend to make a cosmetic more powerful (something that consistently occurswith manyApex Legendscosmetics),Fortnite’s introduction of cel-shaded has made many skins easier to spot and easier to shoot. The granting of a disadvantage is rare, but the common denominator of a licensed skin messing with balance still applies. In the pursuit of mimicking a certain style, as has been done to a commendable extent withOverwatch 2’sMHAcrossover, it’s possible some problems can seep through undetected. Though, consideringOverwatch 2’s All Might skin design was never itself the problem, this is likely just an example of a routine quirk.
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Overwatch 2 is an always-on and ever-evolving free-to-play, team-based action game set in an optimistic future, where every match is the ultimate 5v5 battlefield brawl. Power up your railgun and disrupt the battlefield as Sojourn, or yield your axe and command attention as Junker Queen. Battle to take control of a robot and move it toward the enemy base in the new Push Mode. Bring the fight to new destinations across the globe in iconic locations like New York, Rome, Monte Carlo and Rio. Daily challenges and frequent updates mean there is always something new to play.
