Blizzard is offering Overwatch 2 players a holiday treat in the form of a Gingerbread Bastion skin. It’s exactly what it sounds like: the hero shooter’s robot, made entirely of gingerbread and candy canes. His bird companion is even made out of gingerbread, and the whole getup is super cute. The skin and a candy cane weapon charm are available now as a cheap, one-Overwatch-Coin package, but what was likely meant as a gesture of holiday goodwill comes with a notable irksome drawback: now, my Overwatch coin balance is no longer a nice round number.
If you, like many others, are the kind of person who needs to turn the volume on your TV up or down so the level number ends in a five or zero, you likely know what this means. Now, no matter how many coins you earn through completing weekly challenges or paying for them outright, you will never have a flat number again, as all the coin amounts you can get in Overwatch 2 end in zero already. So, if you buy the Gingerbread Bastion skin, there will always be a pesky nine at the end of your currency. Unless Blizzard releases something with a cost that ends in nine.
I joke, but the discrepancy actually does have a tangible effect on your using the Overwatch 2 store. All the cosmetics you can buy in the in-game shop cost round numbers, and there’s no way to buy Overwatch Coins for any less than 500 coins ($4.99). So, for example, say you wanted to buy a skin that costs 1000 Overwatch Coins, but you just bought the Bastion skin for one coin, bringing your balance to 999 Coins. You’d be one coin away from buying the skin you wanted, but the only means you’d have of immediately closing the gap would be to pay at least $4.99. The next quickest way would be to complete four weekly challenges, which would give you 30 Coins, but is, of course, more time consuming.
Ultimately, because of the grindy systems the Overwatch 2 store has in place for acquiring currency, a skin costing one coin has a handful of weird drawbacks, whether that be from it putting your coin balance in a weird spot in its economy, or you having to deal with a non round number in your wallet staring back at you every time you open the store. But as a holiday gift, it’s the thought that counts, I guess?
G/O Media may get a commission
Outside of seasoned Bastion skins, Overwatch 2 is currently hosting its annual Winter Wonderland event, which includes a new mode that harkens back to when Mei could freeze everybody in place.
