Overwatch Anniversary Event 2021: start date, skins, challenges, & more

Joseph Pascoulis
overwatch event cover

The 2021 Overwatch Anniversary Event gives players new content, challenges, and skins to unlock in celebration of the games release five years ago.

While players are eager to learn more about Overwatch 2, Blizzard Entertainment aims to keep players entertained through the new Anniversary Event.

As this could be the last Anniversary Event players will see in the first installment of Overwatch, let’s take a look at what it has to offer.

2021 overwatch anniversary event

What is the 2021 Overwatch Anniversary Event?

Overwatch’s Anniversary event rolls around every year to celebrate the game’s official release date back in 2016. Here’s everything you need to know about 2021’s iteration, including the dates, skins, and more. 

The annual Anniversary event lets players party in style to celebrate the game getting another year older and brings us a whole payload full of new content every year.

2021 Overwatch Anniversary Event start date

The 2021 Overwatch Anniversary Event will run from May 18 to June 8 this year, allowing players a decent amount of time to enjoy the new content.

2021 Overwatch Anniversary Event skins

Every year the Anniversary event brings some amazing skins, sprays, and other cosmetics. With around 3 Epic and 5 Legendary drops, some of the game’s most iconic cosmetics have come out of the Anniversary event.

All of these will be available for purchase during the event using Overwatch’s in-game currency, as well as in the special Anniversary Loot Crates.

Funky Baptiste

funky baptiste

Venus Moira

Venus moira

Junkfood Junkrat

junkfood junkrat

Gladiator Doomfist

Overwatch Anniversary Event doomfist

Black Cat Sombre

Overwatch Anniversary Event sombre

2021 Overwatch Anniversary Event challenges

Weekly challenges have become a staple part of Overwatch events. Usually offering a themed spray, icon, and Legendary skin in return for winning a set amount of games every week, Weekly Challenges are an easy way to bag unique cosmetics.

For Anniversary, Blizzard have switched things up a bit:

  • You need to play 27 games of Quickplay
  • Every 9 games, you will receive an icon, spray then skin
  • Winning counts as two games

This cycle should reset every week for the three weeks of the Anniversary event, therefore giving you the chance to get 3 unique icons, sprays, and skins.

The Weekly Challenge skins are:

Week one: Cybermedic Ana

Overwatch Anniversary Event ana

Week two: Bird of Paradise Echo

Overwatch Anniversary Event echo

Week three: 8 Ball Wrecking Ball

Overwatch Anniversary Event wrecking ball

Make sure to get on, play your games, and complete challenges before June 8 to acquire these skins.


That’s all you need to know about the Overwatch Anniversary Event. We’ll update this page as more details become available, so stay tuned!

Image Credits: Blizzard Entertainment

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About The Author

After graduating from the University of Southampton, Joseph joined CharlieIntel as a Games Writer after a short stint of freelance journalism. He enjoys most genres of games and will play anything that sparks his interest, but his expertise lies within the FPS category. If Joey isn't writing about games, then he's most likely playing them. You can contact Joseph at [email protected]