Overwatch Anniversary Event for 2021 is now live with five new Legendary skins

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Plus, there's a brand new in-game way to earn said skins

Overwatch
(Image credit: Blizzard)

The Overwatch Anniversary Event is back and live for 2021, offering a slate of brand new skins.

Just below, you can check out the trailer for the Overwatch Anniversary 2021 Event. The event itself actually kicked off earlier this week on May 18, and runs on into early next month, when the in-game festivities will draw to a close on June 8.

As for new skins, there are five elusive Legendary skins to obtain. There's the Black Cat Sombra skin, the Funky skin for Baptiste, the Junkfood Junkrat outfit, the Venus Moira skin, and finally the Gladiator skin for Doomfist.

Additionally, there are three new Epic-tier skins available for different characters, but on a weekly rotating basis. The Cybermedic Ana skin is available right now, but next week the Bird of Paradise skin for Echo will be available to be claimed, before the 8 Ball skin for Wrecking Ball rounds out the trio for the final week of the event.

All these rewards won't be tied to loot boxes however, because this year Blizzard is introducing a new way to earn Anniversary Event rewards. Every ninth, 18th, and 27th game you play in Quick Play, Arcade, and Competitive mode gets you a special event-related reward, so there's a definitive in-game way to earn these new skins.

Later on today, we're going to be getting a brand new look at Overwatch 2 from Blizzard. It barely feels like anytime has passed since development director Jeff Kaplan departed the team, but the team at Blizzard will be putting on a reveal event for the game's PvP multiplayer component later today. This is going to be our first proper look at Blizzard's long-awaited sequel, and will be showing off new maps and big gameplay changes.

"We've been hard at work on Overwatch 2, and we'd like to share some of what we've been doing with all of you," said new game director Aaron Keller of the reveal event. "In the past when we've talked about Overwatch 2, we've focused a lot on the co-op and story side of the game, but PvP is at the core of what makes Overwatch feel so special." The showcase run for right around two years, and will be followed up by a Reddit "ask me anything" session later on May 24.

For more on Blizzard's highly-anticipated sequel, head over to our extensive Overwatch 2 preview for more.

Hirun Cryer
Hirun Cryer
Freelance Writer

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.