Opinion: Overwatch Should Continue To Incentivize Competitive Play

In recent days, controversy has once again swirled around Blizzard's decision to reward golden weapon skins to Competitive mode players. The uproar piggybacks comments made by Overwatch's game director Jeff Kaplan, which were given in an interview at an Overwatch One-Year Anniversary event in New York City.

“I wish we would’ve never added any cosmetic items to Competitive,” Kaplan told Reddit and ForceGaming. “I think the people playing Competitive should only be there because they really care about playing in Competitive mode, and they want to rise through the tiers – that’s who I think belongs in Competitive. I don’t think we should overly incentivize players because of cosmetic rewards into the system any more than we already have.”

The golden weapon skins are Blizzard’s way of saying “thanks for sinking significant hours into Competitive Play.” These skins may seem like a silly thing to get worked up over on the surface, but for people who enjoy Competitive Play, they deliver a clear message within the map's lobby. When you see a teammate with a sparkling weapon in hand, odds are they are a seasoned player who has spent significant time playing as that hero. It's a reassurance that makes you feel like your teammate, who you likely know nothing about, is a seasoned player who likely has your back.

If Competitive Play is one of Overwatch’s main attractions, Blizzard should continue pushing players to it, even if it means dangling a golden carrot in front of them. For people who don’t enjoy Competitive matches and would rather spend their time in Arcade of quick play, I understand your frustration – why are you not being rewarded in a similar way? That’s the conundrum. Kaplan rightfully wants everyone to have access to everything, all of the skins, sprays, and goodies. If someone loves D.Va and wants to collect everything associated with that character, they shouldn’t have to play Competitive, right? (They also shouldn’t have to play Heroes of the Storm, but that’s a discussion for another time.)

Again, I fall back on that moment of standing in a lobby and immediately knowing I can trust a player because I see they are holding a golden gun. If Blizzard wants everyone to have access to them, an alternative idea that might work is rewarding time spent with specific heroes. Rather than earning competitive points that can be exchanged for weapons for any hero, hours logged in any mode with a specific hero would eventually produce the unique skin. That would be another way to communicate hero familiarity and skill levels.

Skills vary between modes, however, and as much as I could see this idea working, knowing a player earned a weapon skin by only playing Competitive is a reassurance I wouldn’t want to see change. I see it differently than Kaplan, and would like to see this aspect of Competitive Play expand to perhaps offer platinum and diamond skins for 6,000 and 9,000 points respectively. It would further communicate player proficiency just by scanning a pre-game lobby.

Even if Kaplan doesn’t like dangling the golden carrot, I think the exclusive skins are one of Overwatch’s smartest, little touches. Blizzard has a good thing going here. If a future patch opens them up to the entire player base or alters how you get them, I know why it happened, but a strong hook of Competitive dies with it.