I love Overwatch 2. I love Street Fighter. Put the two of them together for a skin collaboration, and that should, in theory, speak to me directly. But I don’t know, I feel like I’m becoming desensitized to all the collaborations Blizzard has been shoving into its hero shooter, even when they involve things I enjoy. It sometimes feels like this is the only way the company knows how to drum up hype for the hero shooter, which is a shame because the game is in such a good state these days that it shouldn’t have to rely on other properties.
I don’t want to diminish how much cool shit Blizzard has put into Overwatch 2 in the past few seasons. The Perks system, which allows you to upgrade your hero’s kit over the course of a match, has reinvigorated several heroes in its roster in standard play. The build-centric Stadium mode is easily one of the biggest overhauls the game has gotten in the past decade, and is an incredible new way to play the game. Blizzard’s doing some really incredible stuff right now, and is making the most of a bad situation after years of broken promises. But man, I’m less enthusiastic about the reliance on collaboration skins because it feels like the game is slowly becoming Fortnite. There have been so many crossovers in the past few years that you could conceivably play a match made up of players all cosplaying other properties, rather than existing in the rich, underutilized world Blizzard has created.
The Street Fighter crossover event will begin on May 20, bringing with it eight skins that dress Overwatch 2’s heroes as some of the most iconic fighters in Capcom’s legendary fighting game, and for what it’s worth, some of the choices are inspired. The full list is as follows:
- Hanzo as Ryu
- Juno as Chun-Li
- Widowmaker as Cammy
- Kiriko as Juri
- Soldier: 76 as Guile
- Sigma as M. Bison
- Winston as Blank
- Zenyatta as Dhalsim
For now, we’ve only seen Hanzo as Ryu in-game, and it looks like he’ll get emotes based on the iconic Hadouken and Tatsumaki Senpukyaku attacks. We do see every other hero in the event in the animated trailer announcing the collaboration, and it kinda seems like the skins aren’t so much the “Overwatch characters cosplaying” sort that Blizzard used to aspire to as they are just Street Fighter characters dropped wholesale into Overwatch 2. Maybe they’ll look more distinct when they’re released later this month. Click through to see all eight.
