Blizzard have reduced Overwatch price in half, which brought hope for some fans that the player base could be rejuvenated, but the majority is fearing the consequences this might bring. Namely, they are warning other players about smurfs.
Overwatch's new prices will be $19,99 / €19,99 / £17,49 for Standard Edition which is cut in half, or $39,99 / €39,99 / £34,99 for Legendary Edition. The latter was discounted by 33 per cent, which is likely the result of the skins included in the bundle. This would mean Blizzard estimates the value of those skins to be the same as Standard Edition itself.
Blizzard's decision to slash the price likely stems from the fact that some of the most popular games today, such as Fortnite and League of Legends, are free to play and therefore have no entry barrier. The lower price tag on Overwatch might indeed help draw new players in, despite not being free to play itself.
On the other hand, many players have over what this will mean for the existing player base. For example, now that new accounts are cheap to buy now, it will be easier for top tier players to purchase them and play from scratch. This means smurf accounts, lots of them.
Opinions on whether smurf accounts are an issue in Overwatch are mostly polarising, and in this situation, there shouldn't be a massive issue. Discounts that halved the price of Overwatch were fairly frequent before, so anyone who wanted to get themselves a smurf account could do so before, at the same price. That is, unless 50 per cent off sales happen again, on top of this price reduction, which would make Overwatch extremely cheap.
Blizzard
It is important to note that the price cut happened only on PC, so console players will still have to wait for sales in order to get the game at a lower price, at least for the time being. Those who possibly bought the game at full price in the past few days may find themselves disappointed, but they should submit a ticket ot Blizzard support and see if they can get some of their money reimbursed.
Overwatch
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