Blizzard will no longer make Overwatch League MVP skins

Blizzard will no longer make commemorative skins for the annual Overwatch league MVP. SF Shock Fleta's Echo skin will be the last one in the series.

Esports champions deserve recognition for their feats and acts of tremendous skill. Every champion receives a cash prize and a trophy of some sort but receiving something tangible in-game proves to be the better reward overall. League of Legends, for example, awards each world championship team with a themed skin set featuring the team's colors. Riot started the trend back in 2011 with Fnatic but now some other esports titles look to follow suit. Blizzard looked to immortalize the absolute best players of the Overwatch League with commemorative skins. The MVP skins started in 2019 but will unfortunately end with last 2020's Good vs Evil Echo skin.

HONORING THE OVERWATCH LEAGUE MVP IN OTHER WAYS

Recently, Blizzard just announced upcoming skins for Roadhog and Echo commemorating last year's OWL season. The San Francisco-themed Midas Roadhog and the Good vs Evil Echo skin meant to serve as a celebration of amazing Overwatch talent. Subsequently, the Echo skin will stand as a monument to a defunct method of honoring OWL MVPs.

The Overwatch developers announced that they will no longer make MVP skins but did not comment on future team-themed skins. Regardless, it's a shame future MVP winners will no longer be able to receive commemorative skins of their own. Such cosmetic items stand the test of time for as long as the esports title continues to operate. Now, winning OWL teams will have to make do with their team-based skins.

Blizzard failed to clarify why it would no longer commemorate Overwatch League MVPs but it's not hard to see the real underlying reason. Recently, the Overwatch developers had to begin offering refunds for an MVP skin when former OWL player Jay “Sinatraa” Won got embroiled in a sexual assault case. Sinatraa offered his own statement on the matter but nothing changed. The once-successful esports star's future remains uncertain at this point in time.

Now, future Overwatch League MVPs will receive nothing other than the prestige of being the league's MVP. Naturally, Blizzard doesn't want to be in a position to rescind on commemorative skins again.