Overwatch’s Diablo 4 Crossover Finally Gives Moira A Good Skin

Overwatch 2 announced its creepy season seven, Rise of Darkness, in a teaser trailer on October 2. The full trailer will go live on October 4, but, for now, fans should prepare for a Diablo IV crossover.

The brief teaser keeps the extent of the crossover close to its chest, but it at least confirms that Rise of Darkness will involve the Tristram Cathedral final point in Blizzard World, a map introduced in 2018 that features different sections dedicated to developer Blizzard’s myriad franchises. Humanoid Omnic bots hover among the desolate brick, along which one of Diablo’s red portals has stretched open.

Hero Wrecking Ball’s typically chrome-colored shell rolls through, decorated in black, red, and gold, which is more suited to Diablo’s fire and brimstone. But the real showstopper is support character Moira, whose Lilith skin is a stylized version of the Diablo IV demoness’s instantly recognizable regalia. Moira ditches her typical cybergoth bodysuit to, like the original Lilth, get crowned with twisted goat horns, ridged, reptilian eyebrows, and black lipstick. Her usual black-and-purple color palette is retained, though, in a V-neck outfit topped with gnarled shoulder pads. In other words, as one Reddit commenter put it, she is “mothering hard.”

Rise of Darkness leaks from Bulgarian streamer bogur also point to a battle pass stocked with a super rare Mythic skin (this kind of skin has some customization options including color palettes and detail variations, and unlocks in stages as you progress through the battle pass) for the archer Hanzo, and then, some more Halloween-appropriate looks: a gothic Ghost Bride dress for Widowmaker and a Victorian Doll outfit for flying robot Echo, topped with a blonde wig that people on Reddit have decided is not be mothering hard, but you can judge for yourself. Each Overwatch 2 battle pass costs $10, or 1,000 Overwatch Coins.

The upcoming season marks yet another seemingly unlikely collaboration for Diablo, which recently added Lilith and fallen angel Inarius to Call of Duty’s operator roster, and, in the summer, joined forces with popstars Halsey and Suga (from BTS) to create a perfectly fine Diablo IV anthem.” At this rate, I’m readying myself for the inevitability of a limited edition, Diablo IV, microbrewed IPA line. Overwatch, too, has had a recent collaboration with One Punch Man as well as a Star Wars-inspired event.

Overwatch 2 Season 7 drops on October 10.

  

Overwatch 2 Players Raise Hell Over Moira’s Pricey Lilith Skin

Overwatch 2’s Halloween-infused seventh season, Rise of Darkness, went live on Monday, bringing with it a swath of creepy new skins for its heroes, including a hotly anticipated skin based on Diablo IV’s Lilith for sardonic healer Moira. Unfortunately, players who eagerly dived into the season for a chance to acquire Moira’s devilishly good skin now feel like its existence is a price-gouging trick rather than a treat thanks to its hefty cost and paywalled availability.

You see, Lilith Moira can only be unlocked by purchasing the game’s Ultimate Battle Pass: Season Seven Bundle which costs $40. Last season’s Premium Battle Pass also cost $40, but at least that one came with three new story missions. Usually, OW2 skins can be acquired by completing levels in its Battle Pass but the Lilith Moira skin, as well as Pharah’s Legendary Inarius skin and Bastion’s Epic Pumpkin skin, can only be acquired by purchasing the Ultimate Battle Pass. Lilith Moira’s price tag isn’t going over well with fans who see the bundle as yet another example of Blizzard fleecing players for new skins.

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“Casual reminder that Overwatch, the ENTIRE GAME was $40 on release,” Arenyr wrote in a r/Overwatch thread. “Now we’re paying that amount for a couple of skins and a Battle Pass.”

“Blizzard is so fucking gross for this,” Drewboy13 replied in the same thread. “Not only is everything so crazily overpriced, it’s also paywalled and locked behind even more expensive bundles.”

“I thought the only reason the previous season’s Ultimate Bundle was $40 was due to the Invasion ‘campaign missions’ as well as the fact that you got three legendary skins,” LeKrahka said. “Actually bonkers.”

“I’d rather buy a nice game on sale or at the same price without a sale than a disgustingly overpriced pack,’ Sharashaska said. “Every time they have the opportunity to be decent they fail and make the shittiest decision possible regarding their consumers.”

Read More: Overwatch 2 One Year Later: Why Am I Still Doing This?

Last August, Blizzard sent out a survey asking players if they’d be willing to pay $45 for new hero skins. At the time, a Blizzard spokesperson told Kotaku the survey was “entirely intended to better understand player preferences for different types of Overwatch 2 cosmetics” and prices offered in it were “randomized per user and are not indicative of final pricing.” I suppose Blizzard’s survey led to the conclusion that Moira mains like myself would be willing to pay $40 to get the support hero a good skin that wasn’t her David Bowie-inspired one from 2017. I’m going to stick with the Bowie one.

   

Overwatch 2’s Latest Skin Gives The Hamster Nipple Rings

Overwatch 2’s newest season is now live and suitably spooky, featuring demons, monsters, Diablo characters, and nipple rings on a hamster. Wait, what?

Launched on October 10, Overwatch 2’s season seven is predictably Halloween-themed, with many of the free-to-play shooter’s characters getting creepy new costumes and skins. And a big part of this new season is the inclusion of Diablo IV-themed cosmetics, including a pretty sick-looking (but very pricey) Lillith skin for Moira. Another one of these Diablo-themed skins turns Wrecking Ball—the hamster in the giant mech—into the demon Azomodan, complete with jiggle physics and nipple rings.

…Sorry, I got distracted by the GIF. Look at those rings bounce. I have many questions. Why did Blizzard take the time to make sure they shake and jiggle so much? In fact, why did Blizzard give a hamster nipple rings?

Also, looking online, it appears only female hamsters have nipples, and they have more than two. Now, I’m not here to say Hammond can’t be himself and buck gender norms. But I will point out that Hammond the hamster is, according to Overwatch lore, 16 years old. I guess, admittedly, that’s pretty dang old for a hamster, but it seems too young for nipple ring bouncing. These are questions I didn’t want to ask, or think about. Thanks a lot, Blizzard.

Kotaku has contacted Blizzard about the nipple rings.

Reaction to the nipple rings online has been mostly confusion. “They put nipples on the hamster and then put piercings in those nipples,” said one Reddit user. “There’s so many timelines where they didn’t have to do any of that, but I live in this one.”

Another user added, “Blizzard Art Department y’all are not right for this.” But, in a perfect example of how anything can be erotic to someone, yet another person simply replied: “God that’s kinky and I love it.”

Ultimately, it’s weird and a bit offputting to see nipple rings on a hamster. But perhaps that’s the point of the new skin. It is recreating a demon, one with nipple rings. Maybe Blizzard artists wanted to evoke feelings of confusion and pain when people looked at this Hammond skin. So who am I to judge--wait a minute. What happened to his fur? Wait, is he naked and also sporting nipple rings with jiggle physics? Nevermind. I condemn this.

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