Overwatch 2: The Best Collab Skins

Since Overwatch’s release, Blizzard has been working hard to bring new updates and cosmetics to surprise fans, and this is one of the pillars of maintaining the success of a live-service for years.

During its eight-year existence, Overwatch has provided us with several experiences of collaborations with other franchises, bringing new game modes and visuals related to these universes.

From cartoons, animes and games like One Punch Man, My Hero Academia and Diablo to real-world groups and companies, such as the K-pop band Le Sserafim and the car brand Porsche, have already made their appearances in the game.

Today, we'll be looking at the best skins from all these universes that have appeared in Overwatch. Check it out!

The first skin to come from a collaboration was with another title from Blizzard itself, StarCraft. The strategy game was celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2018, so the developer gave away free prizes in its other games, such as a mount in Diablo III, card packs in Hearthstone and other gifts.

In the hero shooter, fans received the release of Sarah Kerrigan, a free legendary skin for Widowmaker. The only requirement was to log into Overwatch between March 6 and April 3 of that year.

The importance of this character in StarCraft, combined with the great quality and similarity of her appearance, were fundamental not only for the community's approval, but also increased expectations for upcoming events in Overwatch.

The biggest criticism from players regarding the costume was the fact that it was yet another release for Widowmaker, who is historically known for receiving several skins. But it’s justifiable because she has a huge fan base.

In September 2019, we had one of the most curious and unexpected partnerships, in this case, with LEGO.

The idea was to bring an event with free rewards for playing matches, and also for watching Overwatch streamers on Twitch.

The Lego-shaped miniatures of the heroes were very faithful to the toy, and really caught everyone's attention. Of course, the most sought-after reward was the legendary Brick skin for Bastion.

In March 2023, we’re partnering with one of the biggest animes in history, One Punch Man!

While we weren’t introduced to a new mode, Blizzard did provide a series of quests with themed rewards, including the Licensed Rider skin for Soldier: 76.

The best new additions were the Saitama Doomfist, Genos Genji and Terrible Tornado Kiriko skins that arrived in the store. All of them were praised for their respect for the original product, the choice of heroes was essential to maintain the characteristics of the characters.

Months later, Overwatch 2 had a collaboration with Le Sserafim! The K-pop group produced “Perfect Night”, a song with animations featuring the game’s heroines, and even performed at the BlizzCon Arena.

In addition, we had the privilege of playing an entirely new 3v3 mode, the Musical Clash! In it, we played with the heroines using the new skins. The teams had to collect as many tickets as possible, at a certain point, we faced the boss, Fawksy James, who tried to steal the tickets for himself.

In fact, this Fawksy James skin was made available to Junkrat for free by completing Musical Clash missions.

However, the most coveted and praised skins in the community were the paid ones. Dazzling D.Va, Traice Tracer, Kira-Kira Kiriko, BB Brigitte and Super Star Sombra were sold separately in the store, or together in the Le Sserafim Bundle, accompanied by other cosmetics.

At this event, Blizzard did not offer a free skin, which already generated bad first impressions, and, according to comments on Reddit, some of the skins had an unjustifiable price tag because they did not receive a major modification or were not faithful to the original character, a great example being Megatron Ramattra.

Despite heavy criticism, the crossover with Transformers was still able to deliver good cosmetics. Optimus Prime Reinhardt was the main marketing feature of the update, and even so, he brought debates because he came equipped with a Hammer, the Overwatch hero's original weapon, but some fans expected an Axe like we saw in Transformers. In any case, it was one of the styles that saved the collaboration, with several charming details.

Another positive highlight goes to Bumblebee Bastion, which also has the qualities of the other skin, but without the controversy of which weapon to use. This, without a doubt, made it considered the best skin of this period.

Another collaboration with an IP from the company itself. Months after the debates with Transformers, Blizzard took the feedback and held a more well-received event. Still, we faced problems, such as the lack of free skins and the poor choice of hero to symbolize Thrall, the vulnerable monk and long-range combat that is Zenyatta does not do justice to the shaman and his hammer.

The most popular skin at that time was the Lich King, I dare say it was the best of all those present here. In addition to being a significant and famous figure in the WoW universe, it was also perfectly crafted in the Hero Shooter. This time, Blizzard chose not to keep Reinhardt's hammer, and brought a model extremely faithful to the villain's iconic sword.

Sylvanas Widowmaker is a controversial but good look. Some debates on the networks suggest that Hanzo should represent Sylvanas Windrunner, since both use bows as weapons, but there is another disagreement among the community, in this case the hero's gender swap.

Regardless, Blizzard chose Widowmaker, despite her use of a rifle, she’s a popular heroine and this cosmetic was extremely well done and with great details, making it a success.

Another crossover with a major anime, and even though it didn't bring anything relevant to the challenges for fans, the styles and cosmetics sold in the store during part of the 13th season were some of the most praised in Overwatch history.

Once again, the German tank is highlighted with its All Might model.

Tracer representing Deku was the subject of controversy, for the same reason as if Sylvanas' WoW skin were for Hanzo. But the similarity in several other characteristics made fans support the skin, being one of the main ones of this event.

The other three appearances did not receive the same praise as the anime's two protagonists.

Finally, this season we received the last major collab, which took place with Avatar: The Last Airbender. Finally, Blizzard resumed the habit of providing skins as quest rewards, this time Katara for Mei.

The store bundle itself was very well received, including other impactful figures in the universe, as well as Overwatch heroes who are rarely honored with good cosmetics like Orisa and Zenyatta.

Not all franchises arrived at the Hero Shooter as absolute successes or highly accepted, and did not appear on the list. Even the main ones were the target of criticism and controversy by the community, but it’s a fact that some visuals stood out.

I hope you enjoyed this content! I’m available for questions or suggestions in the comments.