Overwatch 2 developer Blizzard Entertainment teased the shooter’s next Mythic skin — Grand Beast, for tank hero Orisa — on Tuesday. That new skin, available as the ultimate battle pass reward for Overwatch 2’s next season, was received with a thunderous “That’s… it?” from fans upon its reveal. It’s the third Mythic skin in a row that’s notably underwhelmed the Overwatch community, in part because the skin looks so similar to an already available cosmetic for Orisa.
Players are also lamenting the cosmetic options available in Orisa’s Grand Beast skin, which follows criticisms of customization options in the Mythic skin for Hanzo added in season 7 and Ana’s equivalent skin in season 6.
Mythic skins debuted with the launch of Overwatch 2 last year. The precedent for uniqueness and customization options was set by its inaugural Mythic skin, Cyber Demon Genji. That skin included two weapon options, three tattoos, three masks, and three color palettes for Genji that could be mixed and matched. Mythic skins for characters Junker Queen, Kiriko, Sigma, and Tracer followed, with similar levels of customization.
But the most recent Mythic, Ornyo Hanzo, featured just two weapon options and three color palettes, leading some Overwatch fans to call it the worst Mythic skin Blizzard has delivered yet — and possibly a worrying bellwether for Mythic skins.
Response to Orisa’s Mythic has been similarly dour. On X, formerly known as Twitter, Overwatch fans have expressed their displeasure, saying things like “That’s literally this,” alongside a picture of Orisa’s Dynastinae Legendary skin from 2017.
There are some clear differences between Grand Beast and Dynastinae (and its palette swap, Megasoma), and the new Orisa Mythic comes with new skin-specific audio and visual effects. But it does look awfully familiar.
Blizzard has touted Mythic skins for Overwatch 2 as a “massive investment” for the studio, with some taking more than a year to develop. Overwatch 2 game director Aaron Keller told Game Informer in a 2022 interview that “a massive amount of resources go into building these things. And we think it’s worth it. One of our values is to be able to put out the absolute coolest cosmetics we can, and we hope they can be seen as some of the very best in the industry.”
For the second time in two seasons of Overwatch 2, player response doesn’t seem to line up with that goal. As a frequent Orisa player myself, I find it underwhelming, and like Hanzo’s Onryo, something I’ll unlock out of obligation, not anticipation.
Blizzard may be adjusting its approach to Mythic skins based on how players actually use them. At BlizzCon in November 2023, developers said that some aspects of the seasonal battle pass will be changing in the coming year. Walter Kong, Overwatch franchise general manager, specifically noted that players will soon get the choice to unlock a Mythic skin from any previous season upon reaching level 80, the highest tier of the pass. Kong said that other changes to the battle pass are in the works. Investing less time in Mythic skins may very well be part of that plan.
Polygon has reached out to Blizzard for comment on reaction to Orisa’s new Mythic skin and will update when the company responds.
Season 8 of Overwatch 2 launches Dec. 5. It will bring a new hero to the roster: Mauga, a dual-wielding tank who hails from Samoa.
