All the new legendary skins for the 2020 Overwatch Anniversary event

Overwatch’s Anniversary event is celebrating the launch of the the competitive first-person shooter with weekly challenges running through May 19 to June 9. 

Each week, players will need to win nine Quick Play or Arcade games to unlock a new legendary skin, most of which have been revealed on Overwatch’s official Twitter. Unlike previous events, there won’t be any additional game modes or any other content, most likely due to the developers’ focus on Overwatch 2. The event is solely about these new legendary skins, and most fans aren’t complaining. 

The first skin to be revealed was for Ashe. The sharp shooting outlaw is dressed up as Little Red Riding Hood and there’s no denying that the red cloak looks chic with her white hair. But her robot butler B.O.B. steals the show as the Wolf, poorly disguised as Red’s grandmother. Seeing a ferocious mechanical wolf with a baby blue bonnet atop his head could be worthy of being called “legendary” all on its own. 

The second tweet features Reaper in his Masquerade legendary skin. The outfit takes a break from his usual monotone black attire, with blood red tones and a pop of yellow in his hat. The coolest part of this skin is probably the gold detailing on Reaper’s shotguns, which will make it even harder to toss these perfectly good weapons away every time you reload. 

The next tweet came out the following deal, revealing a skin that many in the Overwatch community had already leaked. The Huitzilopochtli Zenyatta skin is inspired by ancient Aztecs, shown not only in the the bold geometric shapes but the gold and teal coloring. Huitzilopochtli is the Aztec sun and war god, which is quite interesting, since Zenyatta usually preaches peace and harmony. The orbs also look deadlier than ever, thanks to their sharp edges and hefty material. 

Their last legendary skin reveal is another perplexing but epic look. This time it’s Mercy, looking more like a heavily armored tank warrior than a healing goddess. Her Dragoon skin features an intense dragon skull mask atop her head, deadly looking shoulder pads, and a glowing dragon head on her chestpiece. The green and scaly costume is quite the statement, but it’s hard to know how Mercy can still fly with all that added weight. 

While many fans have applauded Blizzard for the unique Mercy skin, many others are frustrated that their calls for the return of Mercy’s Pink skin. The limited-time skin was $15, with the proceeds going towards the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. The initiative raised a staggering $12.7 million in just over two weeks. A lot of fans felt that now was the perfect time for another charity-driven Mercy skin, making her Dragoon skin a bit of a let down. 

Overwatch Anniversary event leaked ahead of release

Many of the Anniversary event details were leaked earlier in May when data miners uncovered information within the May 12 patch notes. Posted on Twitter, the details revealed additional skins that Overwatch has yet to officially announce. This includes Masked Man McCree, Fleur di Lis Widowmaker, and Carbon Fiber Sigma. These are also skins that players can obtain by winning nine matches during week of the event. Past event skins will also be available to purchase or receive in loot boxes. 

While no new game modes are coming this time around, the Anniversary event will bring back previous seasonal brawls that will rotate each day in the Arcade throughout the course of the event.

Another important leak included an updated communication wheel, which will also be released on May 19.