What to expect from the return of last year's special event.
Overwatch’s Summer Games is nearly upon us and we’re excited for the barrage of new content that’s going to hit the game in less than a week’s time from now.
To get in shape for this upcoming event, we thought we’d rework our existing Summer Games guide from last year, so you can start getting prepared. To keep things sensible, the top half of this article contains all of the latest news, and an overview of everything that’s coming to the event. We’ve got all the rumours in there too.
The bottom half is based largely on previous events – and we know a lot of that content is returning next week – but we’ll update the whole article thoroughly when the Summer Games goes live.
We’ll also keep updating our guide as the event approaches, and will make a note of what’s new right here so you can focus on the latest announcements.
Editor’s UPDATE #3: We’ve tidied up this guide, placing all past event coverage towards the bottom of the page. All the latest news and content will be found at the top of this guide once we learn more and when the event goes live. Finally, just below we’ve begun prepping our Summer Games 2018 section with a potential release date and some speculation as to what to expect from it this year.
Summer Games: Now Live!
At the time of writing this we’re currently struggling to get online, thanks to latency issues and long queue times. We wanted to bring you info on all the new skins quickly, but since that’s not possible right now, we’ve linked a brilliant video by Overwatch Central that showcases all the new cosmetic goodies up for grabs this year!
All Current Summer Games Skins
Finally, here are all the Summer Games skins from the past two events. As soon as the 2018 event goes live, we’ll be adding them in here!
Below this section is where you’ll find all of our past event coverage so you can get an even better idea of what sort of content might be swinging our way in 2018.
Summer Games 2017: Confirmed Details
In these sections you’ll find a brief overview of everything that’s confirmed for the upcoming Summer Games 2017 event.
Release date
- Overwatch’s Summer Games event will return on Tuesday 8th August 2017.
- Currently there is no confirmation as to what time it’ll go live, but we’ll update this section as soon as the information comes our way.
- The event will end on Tuesday 29th August 2017. The end time is again yet to be confirmed.
Skins
- All of last year’s skins will be making a comeback.
- This time around, you’ll be able to purchase all Summer Games skins using Credits.
- Last year’s returning skins can be purchased at a discounted cost of 1,000 Credits. New skins cost 3,000 as usual with new special events.
- There will brand new skins for this year’s edition of Summer Games.
- Junkrat is getting a new Legendary skin and Mercy is getting one of Jeff Kaplan’s all-time favourite skins.
- Widowmaker and McCree fans are going to be “blown away” by the content that’s coming.
Lucioball
- Lucioball is returning with Summer Games 2017!
- As well as the old Rio Stadium, there’s a new Australian stadium based in Sydney.
- Players can no longer boop other players in Lucioball. This prevents cheesy strategies around the goal area.
- Lucio’s Ultimate has received a tweak in Lucioball this year. It no longer dramatically pulls the ball towards you – instead Lucio moves faster, you can boop the ball while it’s active and you’ll jump higher too.
- There’s a special Lucioball tournament coming this year! You can play it casually, or compete in the competitive Copa Lucioball league through the Arcade. Play 10 competitive games here and you’ll get a special spray. Make the Top 500 and get an even shinier spray!
Summer Games 2017: Rumours and Speculation
Here’s a run through all of the information that’s been datamined so far.
Over 40+ items and a new beach theme?
Redditor Yernemm has datamined the current version of Overwatch (1.13) and dug up some brand new information regarding the upcoming Summer Games event.
We’ve embedded images of the files that were datamined below, along with a very brief description of what’s being shown.
The first image clearly states that you’ll be able to obtain the skins you missed out on last Summer Games, and bag over 40 new items.
In the second image above there are many encrypted strings which state “available in Summer Games Loot Boxes”. Again, indicative of the new items we have to look forward to!
Finally, there’s a string which may suggest a beach theme for cosmetics. It’s worth noting though, that this code could mean anything and isn’t confirmation of anything – please let it be true!
Theme tune datamined?
Redditor DeadGirlDreaming discovered a brand-new theme tune while scouring Overwatch’s game files recently. Having listened to the track, many Redditors have commented that it sounds remarkably like the grand opening of the Olympics.
You can listen to the theme below.
We reckon this short clip could very well be the theme tune for Summer Games 2017. It distances itself enough from last year’s Brazilian drumming flavour (to commemorate the Rio Olympics), that it fits into Blizzard’s plans to make this an annual event.
Player Icons datamined?
Another Redditor RichardGryffon discovered six new files from a previous Overwatch PTR patch, and they revealed a handful of Summer Games 2017 icons.
Each player icon represents a country’s flag, and we’ve listed them all below.
- New Zealand
- Antarctica
- Spain
- India
- Iraq
Last year’s Summer Games event featured 40 player icons among many other loot drops, so this datamine is almost certainly not representative of all the icons you’ll be able to obtain.
Some of the information below is based on last year’s Summer Games event.
We’ll completely overhaul this guide when Summer Games 2017 goes live – stay tuned for more!
- 1. Tier List – Overwatch Tier List
- 2. Season 5 – Season 5 guide
- 3. Doomfist – Doomfist guide
- 4. World Cup – Overwatch World Cup guide
- 5. Summer Games – Overwatch Summer Games guide
Summer Games 2016: FAQ
- All players receive one free Summer Games Loot Box once they have updated their client.
- Players also receive a unique Summer Games Player Icon.
- Summer Games boxes replace the usual Loot Box options, and contain a mixture of old and new skins/sprays/emotes.
- The purchase bundles are identical in terms of both cost and bundle size.
- You can cycle between Summer Games Loot Boxes and regular Loot Boxes in the game shop, but when you do so only Summer Games purchase options actually appear.
Lucioball
Lucioball returns to the Summer Games this year! It’s essentially Rocket League where everyone plays as Lucio. You must use Soundwave to knock the football into the goal, and take advantage of his mobility to out maneuver opponents.
If you’re after a comprehensive overview of the revamped Lucioball, along with tips and tricks on how to dominate your opposition, make sure you check out our Lucioball guide – it contains absolutely everything you need to know.
Loot Boxes
Here’s what the Summer Games 2016 Loot Boxes look like, along with what options are available to purchase in the shop.
