Blizzard apologises for Mei's divisive winter wardrobe
"Our 'cool meter' was off from yours on this one."
Overwatch's new Winter Wonderland event sought to highlight fan-favourite climatologist Mei by giving the character her own Snowball Offensive mode, but Blizzard's good intentions backfired as the developer saddled her seasonal content with a disappointingly lackluster Legendary skin. In fact, Mei's high-end holiday garb received such a poor reception that Blizzard has apologised for it.
"Sorry you are disappointed with Mei's winter skin," said game director Jeff Kaplan on the Overwatch forums. "We just sort of make a gut call based off of what we think is cool."
One reason Mei's winter coat was so heavily criticised was due to its status as a Legendary skin. Typically these expensive wardrobes are a massive change from the norm, whereas Mei's holiday threads were primarily a re-skin of her usual attire. The only major difference is that her ice block ability now transforms her into a more decorative snowman.
"We thought that was pretty special and we had done it specifically based on community suggestions from months ago when people were speculating that we might have a winter event," Kaplan said. "Apologies that our 'cool meter' was off from yours on this one."
Thankfully, Blizzard is planning a redesign for Mei's Legendary wardrobe planned for "early next year."