Overwatch Summer Games Is Back: What You Need To Know

It's been a year since Blizzard rolled out Overwatch's first seasonal event, the Summer Games. Though the Summer Games were initially meant to coincide with the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, Blizzard has decided to bring them back again this year. Jeff Kaplan made the announcement in a new developer update video, revealing that the Summer Games will be returning next week.

The three-week event will offer a lot of familiar sights for people who were around for the last Summer Games, including the return of last year's skins. This, importantly gives new players a chance to get skins they previously couldn't get, while Overwatch veterans have the chance to complete their Summer Games collection. Kaplan says that new skins will be added for 2017's Summer Games and, after trolling Roadhog mains, reveals that Junkrat and Mercy will be getting new skins while McRee and Widowmaker fans will be "blown away" by what's being added.

Whether you're after new or old skins, you'll be able to purchase them with credits, though Kaplan notes that the old skins from last year's event will be available at a discount. For instance, if you're looking to pick up an old legendary skin, you'll only need to pay 1,000 credits instead the normal 3,000. Just as well, this is the first event where Overwatch's new loot box rules will be in place, so expect to see far fewer duplicates as you're opening your Summer Games boxes.

Obviously, it's not the Summer Games without Lucioball, and Kaplan seemed almost overjoyed to announce that this game mode will be returning. The Overwatch devs have made a few changes to the way Lucioball works, though, in an effort to prevent cheese strategies from dominating play. For instance, you'll no longer be able to use Lucio's Soundwave to "boop" your enemies, and Lucio's ultimate now makes him faster, gives his Soundwave more power when hitting the ball, and makes him jump higher.

There's a new arena being added to Lucioball that's based in Sydney, Australia, but the old Rio arena will be returning as well. Finally, you'll be able to play Lucioball in a new three-week ranked season that'll hand out new sprays for placing and ranking among the top 500 players in your region. The 2017 Overwatch Summer Games kick off on August 8, so get ready.