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Mei's legendary skin in Overwatch isn't 'cool' enough for some Blizzard fans

The game's director provided some insight on the team's process for making the skin, and hope to hit closer to the mark next time.

David Craddock

December 15, 2016 3:38 PM

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Following a rash of complaints from fans directed at Overwatch character Mei's legendary skin, the game's director responded to forum posts on Battle.net to explain the team's thought process in designing it.

"Sorry you are disappointed with Mei's winter skin," Jeff Kaplan wrote. The legendary-style skin, released as part of the game's Christmas event, uses Mei's default parka as a base, and adds festive red-and-green colors.

"We don't have a specific rule for what makes something Legendary or Epic," Kaplan went on. "We just sort of make a gut call based off of what we think is cool. Coolness is very subjective, and based off of the community reaction it seems like our gauge was off on this one."

Kaplan explained that the Overwatch team designed Mei's legendary outfit based on community feedback. "Our reasoning for it being Legendary was that we completely redid the visual effects for Cryo-Freeze (we turned the ice block into a snowman). We thought that was pretty special," he said.

Many of the complaints stemmed from the fact that many other characters have received more skins than Mei, and that the one she was given didn't meet expectations. Kaplan assured those fans that the team is working on something for Mei that will be released—or at least announced in early 2017. 

David Craddock

Long Reads Editor

David L. Craddock writes fiction, nonfiction, and grocery lists. He is the author of the Stay Awhile and Listen series, and the Gairden Chronicles series of fantasy novels for young adults. Outside of writing, he enjoys playing Mario, Zelda, and Dark Souls games, and will be happy to discuss at length the myriad reasons why Dark Souls 2 is the best in the series. Follow him online at davidlcraddock.com and @davidlcraddock.