Back in my day, I had to play Heroes of the Storm to get the Genji Oni skin, and then Blizzard just went and released it a year or so later, so players could get it for free in loot boxes or in the shop for something like 1000 OW coins. But now, after all these years, the Oni skin is back, and Blizzard is giving it out again for free. Sort of.
There’s currently a deal going on in the Blizzard Gear shop, where if you purchase $75/£70 or more, then you’ll also get the Genji Oni skin for free. The offer is only valid until September 16, 2024, is only available for users over the age of 18 in the US and UK, and you’ll only get one per purchase. You can read more about eligibility here. There are also only 500 codes available to redeem, so do check that the promotion is still on before purchasing $75/£70 worth of products.
If you were planning to spend that kind of money already in the store, then sure, the Oni Genji skin is a fun bonus, but this deal isn’t worth squat if you’re just doing it for the skin. You can get this skin in Overwatch 2 for 1,500 silver coins. You can earn that in the premium battle pass by level 55, and there are 2,000 silver coins in total, so chances are you’ll already have plenty of these coins going spare. I have just over 7,000 lying around from completing the last few battle passes. Just because this skin is legendary, doesn’t mean that it’s worth anything, especially as you could get it for free in Overwatch 1.
“Shop prices are undoubtedly scummy, but Overwatch is one of the only free-to-play games that’s truly free to play,” one player says. “Skins are optional, and everyone gets the heroes. Even when they were paid, everyone got them the next season. Compare this to Val or Apex, where you have to spend a ton to unlock everything.”
Getting a great skin as a reward for spending money in the Blizzard Gear shop isn’t necessarily evil—it’s not even a problem, as long as players know that they don’t have to spend that kind of cash to get this legendary skin. This is “Price Anchoring”, a marketing tactic Blizzard’s implemented in games like Diablo 4 and, well, any time you look at the World of Warcraft subscription prices.
My only advice to players who want to get cosmetics, whether that be through promotional events like this or in the shop, is to always check out the prices of individual skins or items in the hero gallery first, as they’re often the cheapest there (unless you’re going for a bundle).
