Overwatch League In-Game Skins And Official Merch Coming Soon

The Overwatch League, Blizzard’s first and largest foray into organized esports, starts in just five weeks and soon fans will be able to rep their favorite team’s jerseys in and out of game. Blizzard announced on Monday that fans will be able to purchase special tokens that will allow them to buy skins for any of the 26 Overwatch heroes. Nate Nanzer, the Overwatch League commissioner, said in a video blog post that this new currency will allow Blizzard to accurately track the money spent on these items and give teams an accurate amount of the earnings they deserve. I also expect it to be a sly marketing maneuver to get even more money out of the cosmetic obsessed Overwatch community, but that’s nothing more than cynical speculation.

On top of your in-game avatars, soon you’ll be able to buy physical products to show your team spirit. According to a Blizzard press release, “fans will be able to support their favorite team with a selection of officially licensed shirts, jackets, New Era hats and other awesome gear.” I’m honestly going to have a hard time picking out which shirts to buy, the colors of the Shanghai Dragons pop really well, but the normal Overwatch League branded merch is just straight fire.

The portal on the Blizzard merch page will go live tomorrow, so get ready to open up your wallets to the great Jeff Kaplan in the sky. Though we still don’t know how any of the teams are going to perform, or even their full rosters, you probably already have a good idea of who you’re going to be rooting for. Even though I love Cloud 9, I’m not sure I’ll be able to rep London when my hometown of New York is showing up to compete.

It doesn't matter if you're a London Spitfire fanboy or actually think the New York Excelsior name sounds cool, you’ll be able to show off your team pride. Like traditional sports fans with their Yankees jerseys or Knicks caps, you’ll be able to walk down the street with some love for your favorite team, knowing that they’ll also be getting part of the proceeds. In the world of esports, which can be extremely money and power hungry, it’s great to finally have a way to support the players, coaches and analysts that put a ridiculous amount of hard-work into pushing Winston and the rest of the Overwatch cast to their virtual limits.

Blizzard is doing an amazing job with getting fans hyped about the League. Announced at the 2016 Blizzcon, it almost feels surreal to know that esports history is about to be made. With League Of Legends NA LCS franchising starting in the next few months, there’s no telling what’s going to happen in 2018. Venture Capitalists and traditional sports team owners are coming to play with millions of dollars to invest, there’s no knowing how that’s going to shake up the pro gaming scene.

The Overwatch League’s Preseason starts this week on Dec. 7, where we will finally get a chance to see what these teams can really do.