After finally redeeming itself in 2025, Overwatch 2 just made a huge mistake

It took time Overwatch 2 to redeem itself and justify its existence, but through hard work and consistent updates from Aaron Keller and Team 4, the game did just that in 2025. Progression 2.0 and earnable loot boxes are a big motivation to keep playing outside of battles, while the core gameplay has been improved via the perk system. Overwatch 2s lore codex was recently added and is a useful tool for history buffs, while Stadium brought new life Overwatch 2 and really made the franchise feel new for the first time in years. With such a hot streak, it's a little strange there Overwatch 2 ended in 2025 (and begins in 2026) with a controversy.

This controversy is quite simple: Overwatch 2 is holding a region-exclusive event in China right now focusing on Talon, and players in all other regions are feeling left out because of it. Granted, there have been other region-exclusive events for China in the past, as this version of the game essentially plays catch-up with the main version, with Monitoring has been unavailable in China for a few years. That doesn't make it any less disappointing though, especially when you consider how many cool cosmetics can be earned from this China-exclusive event. While Overwatch 2's Winter Wonderland had a good variety of rewards, it's being phased out now, and being able to earn some skins, tier jumps, and loot boxes doesn't compare to getting some of the very best cosmetics for free.

Overwatch 2's “Black Claw Archive” shows Chinese players in quality gear

While this limited Chinese event doesn't offer exclusive game modes or lore – two things that would really upset players in other regions – it does offer some of the rarest and most sought after Overwatch 2 cosmetics. These include, but are not limited to:

Demon Hunter Sombra
Luchador Reaper
Chained King Reaper
Thunder Doomfist
Lilith Moira
Ninja Sombra

These skins stand out for different reasons. Chained King Reaper, Luchador Reaper, and Thunder Doomfist are rare because they are ex-OWL skins, with players outside of China permanently losing access to them over a year ago. Lilith Moira was part of the expensive ultimate battle pass bundle during the Diablo 4 collab Season, while Ninja Sombra was a Season 19 battle pass exclusive. Demon Hunter Sombra is perhaps the most surprising unlock here, as it started out as a Blizzcon skin before being briefly unlocked during Halloween all the way back in 2019. Although a recolor has been released since then, the original is still extremely rare, as players haven't been able to obtain it easily for over 7 years.

These are just a few of the three dozen skins offered in the event, with Redditor Legitimate_Pop5682 detailing how the event works for curious players outside of China. Rather shockingly, half of these rare skins can be obtained completely free. Players must play as each “Black Claw” (Talon) hero to complete character-specific challenges and earn a free skin of their choice if they complete them all. Every day they log in, they get another free skin claim. Not only are Chinese players getting access to skins that other fans desperately wish would return, but they're getting them for free through this event, which is probably easy to pull off.

If that wasn't enough, players will earn 20 regular loot boxes, 8 epics and 3 legendaries by playing 50 matches over 20 days – a comparable experience to Krampus Junkrat's offerings in Winter Wonderland 2025.

Overwatch 2's region-exclusive event is a slippery slope

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While Overwatch 2s region-exclusive events have been focused on China so far, perhaps that won't always be the case. The Overwatch 2 the hero roster is packed with characters from all over the world, so there's room for things to spiral and lead to a UK-exclusive Tracer event, Japan-only Kiriko event, D.Va-centric Korea event, and so on. Hopefully that won't happen, as that would only make the FOMO feeling worse, but it certainly doesn't seem like an impossibility. With other regions complaining about not getting these region-exclusive events, perhaps Blizzard will see the perfect solution as introducing region-exclusive events to other countries instead of ending them entirely.

Giving Chinese players catch-up events that only provide them with loot boxes would make sense, but letting them get special cosmetics that players in other regions have lost access to feels like a step too far – especially when you consider how Chinese fans get said cosmetics for free. Players would love another chance to just buy Thunder Doomfist again, so seeing him offered for free to a certain group of players as a makeup gift (after they've already had other similar events) is understandably frustrating for some players. Hopefully Blizzard hears these complaints and makes a version of the Talon event available in other regions soon. It's hard to imagine it being as generous as the Chinese version is, but it would still go a long way to make players feel like they're not missing out, as players currently feel like there's too much favoritism going on.