A survey causing waves within the Overwatch 2 community is “not indicative of final pricing,” a spokesperson tells IGN, as Blizzard seeks to introduce a version of the popular shooter without loot boxes.
Blizzard’s statement follows reports of a survey, first noted on Twitter by @Portergauge, that asks players whether they would be willing to pay $45 for the new highest rarity of Overwatch skins in the upcoming sequel. The idea didn’t go down well.
“Oof, friend of mine got an Overwatch survey for his account, some of these prices they’re gauging for OW2 are really expensive,” said Portergauge. “I hope this is just him getting one of the higher price surveys and not an indication that they’re leaning towards this much monetization.”
The survey lists proposed prices for Weapons, Skins, and Charms, asking players if they would be willing to pay $44.99 for a single mythic skin, $24.99 for a legendary skin, $29.99 for a legendary bundle, or $9.99 for a weapon charm.
That’s a lot higher than you might expect.
“I am still surprised people are willing to pay this much for skins,” said one Reddit user. “When I played Valorant for awhile I would refuse to pay these sorts of prices, would only get a few select things on ‘sale’ or the season pass if I knew I would be playing enough and it had a few items that I wanted.”
Activision came under fire recently for its controversial Diablo Immortal microtransactions.
A Blizzard spokesperson told IGN, “This survey is entirely intended to better understand player preferences for different types of Overwatch 2 cosmetics. Prices displayed in the survey were randomized per user and are not indicative of final pricing. We plan to share details on our Shop and Battle Pass system closer to our Oct. 4 launch.”
Ultimately, Blizzard says that some of the suggestions in the Overwatch 2 survey are not meant to be reasonable – presumably gauging interest among players to find a spot that makes the company money without scaring players away.
Overwatch 2 caused additional concerns recently when it was revealed that the upcoming sequel would essentially replace the original game when it officially launches later this year.
Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.
