PCGamesN reports that the folks over at TrueAchievements have apparently data mined two interesting pieces of information about Overwatch: an upcoming Game of the Year Edition and a purchasable package of 50 Anniversary Loot Boxes for an upcoming Overwatch Anniversary event.
TrueAchievements pulls their data directly from the Xbox Store API, so this appears to all but confirm the existence of some sort of Anniversary Event for Overwatch. Additionally, the game's official Twitter account may have confirmed its existence with a response to this tweet:
https://twitter.com/PlayOverwatch/status/862437592767184896
Further speculation and discussion are taking place within three distinct threads on the /r/Overwatch subreddit: Overwatch® - 50 Anniversary Loot Boxes, Blizzard Acknowledging Anniversary Event, and Overwatch: Game of the Year Edition Coming to the Xbox One on May 23rd. Users on the subreddit had previously speculated about the existence of the event including some data mining efforts that revealed a mysterious "EVENT_6" in the game's files.
Going by the store description, Overwatch: Game of the Year Edition will have the following goodies in it:
- The full game.
- 10 Bonus Loot Boxes with cosmetic goodies for your Overwatch heroes.
- Origin Skins for 5 Overwatch heroes.
- A Baby Winston Pet for adventures in World of Warcraft.
- The Tracer Hero for battling it out in Heroes of the Storm.
- And more!
As for the Overwatch Anniversary event, the following description for Anniversary Loot Boxes was pulled from the Xbox Store's data by TrueAchievements:
Celebrate Overwatch's anniversary with a batch of commemorative treats for your heroes during a new event: Overwatch® Anniversary! Kick off the celebration with a bang by picking up Anniversary Loot Boxes*. Every Loot Box contains up to four cosmetic items, including at least one Anniversary Skin, Spray, Highlight Intro, Emote, Victory Pose, Player Icon, or Voice Line. More than 100 Anniversary goodies are waiting for you! If your Anniversary Loot Box contains an item that is already in your collection, you will instead receive in-game Credits that you can use to acquire many customization options. *Anniversary Loot Boxes are available to purchase or earn in-game until June 5, 2017.As events in the game tend to last for around three weeks and we have a set ending date of June 5, it seems likely that the next event will begin on Tuesday, May 16, 2017. We've reached out to Blizzard Entertainment for comment.
What do you think of an event happening so soon to the conclusion of Uprising? What do you think we'll see in terms of cosmetics in the Anniversary Loot Boxes? What kind of special gameplay do you think we'll get for the duration of this event? Do you think we'll get any other related media like a cinematic or comic? Let us know in the comments below!
