Overwatch celebrates the Olympic Games Rio 2016 with special Summer Games Loot Boxes

The Rio Olympics are just a few days away, and everyone's favorite team-based shooter is preparing to celebrate the event with a month-long special event.

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Update: Shortly after publishing our story, Blizzard has confirmed details surrounding Overwatch's first major event. Over 100 seasonal goodies will be up for grabs and a new game mode within a new map: Lucioball.

Lucioball is a fast-paced 3v3 match that features Lucio as the main hero for both players. Lucio's primary attack has been replaced with a melee attack, which allows him to punch the ball, while his secondary emits a blast of sound to further project the soccer ball. Lucio's song abilities will only affect himself, while his Sound Barrier ultimate ability will now pull the ball towards him.

Original Story:

We’re just days away from the Rio Olympics, and judging by some leaked promotional material, it looks like the Heroes and Villains of Overwatch are preparing for the big day as new skins, a map, and a game mode are expected to release in time for the big event.

The promotional material was sent out by Blizzard Entertainment to Twitch streamer “LacedUpLauren,” who took it upon herself to share it on her Twitter account. The promotional images show new skins for Zarya, Lucio, and Tracer as they prepare to take part in competitions for weightlifting, football, and track & field, respectively.

Additional promotional material shows Genji as a fencer, Soldier: 76 as a golfer, and Pharrah as a basketball player.

In addition to these leaked promotional images, a PlayStation Store listing for the Summer Games Loot Box add-on for Overwatch has also popped up. “Celebrate Overwatch’s inaugural Summer Games with special Summer Games Loot Boxes -- available for a limited time,” the listing reads. Players will be able to purchase or earn these special loot boxes until August 22, 2016 at 11:59pm PT.

The Summer Games Loot Boxes will contain four items, one of which is guaranteed to be a Summer Games skin, spray, highlight intro, emote, victory pose, player icon, or voice line. Blizzard will release a total of 90 Summer Games items, which are only available by opening Loot Boxes as they can’t be purchased using in-game credits. If you receive a Summer Games item that’s already in your collection, you’ll receive in-game credits which can be used to unlock non-Summer Games items.

No word as to when the Overwatch Summer Games event will start, but with the Rio Olympics taking place this Friday, we woudln't be surprised if it launched this weekend.

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