New Overwatch Mei Skin is Drawing Controversy | Game Rant
Although Overwatch collectibles like sprays, emotes, and victory poses have their appeal, character skins are some of the most sought-after items for players. Most have one or a few favorite characters, and finding the perfect look while battling others makes gameplay a bit more stylish. Blizzard often offers new skins as part of a seasonal event, such as the Lifeguard Pharah Legendary skin for the 2020 Summer Games. However, some skins are better received than others, and the latest Legendary skin for Mei is drawing a lot of criticism.
Mei's toolkit revolves around ice-based abilities, which allows her to shoot icicles out of her gun and create ice walls to catch opponents out of position. Naturally, many of her early Legendary skins sported a winter theme, including Abominable, Yeti Hunter, and Ecopoint: Antarctica. Her 2016 Legendary holiday skin Mei-rry drew criticism for being a recolor of her classic skin, but most of her Legendaries since have ditched the winter theme and have tried to put a different spin on her style.
The new Legendary Mei skin is called MM-Mei, released to celebrate the first Overwatch League tournament of the year: May Melee. The MM-Mei skin sees Mei suiting up in the garb of a mixed martial arts fighter, complete with a championship belt and gloves that promote a business called Frost Boxing. However, several Overwatch fans feel Mei's cornrow and ponytail combo, as well as the overall look of the skin, is done in poor taste. Others have compared Mei's design and hairstyle to MMA fighter Weili Zhang, who recently fought in a UFC bout on April 24.
Blizzard commented on the idea for the MM-Mei skin, stating it felt "combat sports like boxing and MMA embodied the [May Melee] theme well," and decided that "Mei was the obvious hero choice for the May Melee skin." However, many fans were quick to point out that Mei is already one of the Overwatch heroes with the most Legendary skins. Fans referenced an earlier poll released by Blizzard asking which hero should receive a skin as part of the May Melee event, and Mei was in fourth place behind Ana, Winston, and Zarya.
Even though an Ana skin may be available sometime next week, some fans still feel it was a missed opportunity not to give the first MMA styled skin in Overwatch to Doomfist, the only fist-fighter on the roster. Many of the latest Overwatch skins have struggled to garner fan approval, with particular criticism aimed at Mercy's Camouflage skin for the 2021 Archives event and McCree's altered design in Overwatch 2. Still, fans interested in the MM-Mei skin can get it by spending 200 OWL tokens, either by paying or watching the Overwatch League.
Overwatch is available now on PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
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