Editor’s note: This article was edited on April 5 to add the new skins available in the Overwatch Archives event.
From April 6 to the 27, the Archives event is returning to Overwatch. This event is known for making all previous skins available for purchase, no matter which event they’re from. New skins will arrive for this event as well.
Prepare to experience the past while fighting for the future.
The Overwatch Archives are back starting April 6! pic.twitter.com/whwjyGL9T2
— Overwatch (@PlayOverwatch) April 4, 2021
Back to the archives
Like previous years, the Archives event is known for two things. Firstly, the co-op missions revolve around specific moments in Overwatch’s in-universe history. This includes the missions Uprising, Retribution and Storm Rising, all focused on specific locations in the game. However, like 2020, there seems to be no more new co-op missions due to the team’s work on Overwatch 2. Even if you played through the co-op missions dozens of times before, the time spent waiting for Overwatch 2 might’ve caused some forgetfulness. While no new changes are coming to Overwatch, players can still play through the story they have to prepare for Overwatch 2.
In 2020’s Archives, the new changes included for these missions were new effects for enemies as well as weekly rewards for playing matches. These seem to be returning for this year, but no extra changes for 2021. With the team’s focus on Overwatch 2, Archives won’t change much from previous years, but will still allow players to get skins from previous events.
Also, with the release of every new event, the Overwatch team always manages to release new skins to match. Just a day before the start of the event, two new skins were revealed. This includes a new Widowmaker and Genji skin.
After the Overwatch 2 update at BlizzCon Online, all of their focus shifted to the sequel. However, it is nice to see these events getting new skins. Hopefully, this continues until the release of Overwatch 2.
