Overwatch 2's executive producer says controversial winter event is a disaster of framing, anger 'surprised' him: 'What we wanted was for players to have more choice'
Overwatch 2 has had some trouble in the past year-and-a-bit since its release—between promised PvE content being absent, an outright admission that the game has been in decline, and a 'colourful' reception on Steam, the game's freemium model has been a point of contention—especially for players who bought Overwatch 1 fully-priced.
A recent controversy has made that sentiment worse, with players responding to the bitter fact that they wouldn't be able to earn every cosmetic in the Winter Fair event even if they went for the premium option—things worsened after executive producer Jared Neuss responded to a player in a post on X, where he wrote: «It's $5 for 4 Legendary skins»—though some of them are recolours of past skins—«which feels squarely in the spirit of the Holidays to me.»
The event (which went live yesterday) gives you tickets for every nine games you play (though wins count as two towards that number). The issue lies in how those tickets are distributed and their weekly cap—which isn't enough to get you everything tickets can buy. Unless you shell out for the shop bundle, of course, which—aw man, wait a minute. That's $30.
Granted, that $5 for 4 offer is technically generous—but with a big, snowflake-shaped asterisk at the end of the word 'technically'. While you might be getting better value for your money than usual, FOMO is a powerful sales pitch—and there's no avoiding the fact that, if you want absolutely everything, you'll need to pay something more like $35.
In a recent interview about the controversy on the Group Up! Podcast, hosted by Twitch channel SVB, Neuss remarks: «I'll be totally honest, the response has kind of surprised me.
»It's totally understandable when you break it down like that," he
