The healing sniper Ana in Blizzard‘s class-based team shooter Overwatch got a new pirate-themed skin as part of this year’s Halloween event, but some fans are unhappy with Blizzard for promising parrots without actually delivering any birds. The new skin, which you can get in loot boxes or for 3,000 in-game credits, shows the avian friend of all scurvy scoundrels sitting on Ana’s shoulder when you equip it in the menus.
Players have noted, however, that the parrot doesn’t actually join you in-game, and that’s made for some sad pirates.
“I thought the parrot was permanently on the shoulder,” poster Abbendys wrote on the Blizzard message boards. “Please, Blizzard!”
This may be frustrating for some people because they spent their money or in-game currency to get the skin based on the image with the parrot. Reddit user Pushaxc posted on the Overwatch forum said they bought it because they liked the look of the parrot and not because they like playing as Ana, who many consider weak at the moment.
June 5th: The AI Audit in NYC
Join us next week in NYC to engage with top executive leaders, delving into strategies for auditing AI models to ensure fairness, optimal performance, and ethical compliance across diverse organizations. Secure your attendance for this exclusive invite-only event.
“Yes, I did spend 3,000 coins on Ana’s legendary skin,” they said. “And yes, I know she is not in a good place. I just wanted the damn parrot.”
Pushaxc claims that Blizzard is misleading people.
“I feel like I’ve been lied to,” the Reddit user explained. “When you look at Ana’s skin, it shows a parrot on her right shoulder … however, in game, you don’t get the parrot. If I am playing an underpowered healer, I better at least get my parrot.”
I’ve reached out to Blizzard to ask if it has anything to say about this or any plans to change the way Ana’s pirate skin works during matches. I’ll add any comment from the publisher to this story as it comes in.
A missing parrot isn’t some tragic betrayal of player trust, but it is slightly stickier for something like Overwatch. That’s because people can spend real money to buy loot boxes in the hopes of unlocking the skin. On top of that, event skins like this one are only available for a limited time, and if you don’t get it now, you may never have a chance to get it again. If players are pouring cash into the game chasing down an item because they think it has a certain feature that it doesn’t end up having, it’s not like Blizzard has a refund procedure to get your money back for loot boxes that you bought.
