Following a slightly early announcement by the Brazilian Twitter account for Overwatch, this year's Overwatch Summer Games event have been properly announced via a developer update video along with a date: August 8, 2017.
The video opens with something many Overwatch players suspected: yes, the Summer Games are returning for 2017. When the first even took place, event skins were not able to be unlocked via the credit system - and that's changing. Both the old and new content will be able to be unlocked with credits, and older skins are going to be discounted to regular prices (1,000 Credits for a Legendary instead of the standard 3,000 for Event Legendaries.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPs__eUvtvU
Roadhog was teased as possibly getting a new skin but later dismissed as a joke. Although Jeff Kaplan does the Developer Updates in one take, it's not likely that this was an unintentional flub; either it was an earnest joke or it was a means to tease us before revealing something. Junkrat is explicitly mentioned as getting a new Legendary skin. Mercy is getting one of Mr. Kaplan's "favorite skins" of all time, and he stated that Widowmaker and McCree fans will have something to look forward to. Lastly, there will be "some silly stuff" in the event as well.dfg
Lúcioball will be returning, of course, alongside a new arena set in Sydney, Australia. Some minor changes have been made to the mode's mechanics. Enemies can no longer be booped, and the event-specific Ultimate has been changed to increase your speed, increase your jump height, and decrease the cooldown on boops.
https://twitter.com/PlayOverwatch/status/892535498274611200
Finally, a new card is being added to the Arcade for the duration of the event: Copa Lúcioball. A 3-week competitive system will be run for the Summer Games. Playing 10 games will get you a special spray, and the top 500 players in each region will get an additional special spray. In essence, it's a mini competitive season specifically for the Lúcioball game mode.
More details are sure to come, whether by way of official Blizzard releases or leaks. The Overwatch Summer Games 2017 will begin on August 8, 2017.
What do you think of the potential for competitive Copa Lúcioball? Are you happy that last year's skins are being discounted? Are you interested in the Overwatch Summer Games 2017? What do you think the new skins will be? Let us know in the comments below!