Overwatch Summer Games 2019 is here with new weekly challenges

Shortly after Overwatch launched in 2017, Summer Games became the title's first seasonal event. Overwatch Summer Games is returning for its third year in a row, and just as with every other annually recurring event, players will have a chance to earn previously-released cosmetics alongside entirely new ones. This time around, however, the Overwatch Summer Games have a bit of twist to them.

Blizzard has decided to roll out weekly challenges for Overwatch Summer Games 2019. Each week, you'll be tasked with winning a total of nine games across Quick Match, Competitive, or Arcade. At three, six, and nine wins, you'll unlock different cosmetics – a spray at three wins, an icon at six, and one of the new Summer Games skins at nine. There are three weeks of challenges, which means you can get three of Summer Games 2019's seven new skins just by playing.

The American Reaper skin, Zhongguo Mei skin, and Bundesadler Reinhardt skin are all up for grabs in those weekly challenges, with other skins for Wrecking Ball, Genji, Hanzo, and Torbjorn unlockable in loot boxes. It's worth pointing out that you can only get the new skins for Reaper, Mei, and Reinhardt by completing challenges, so don't expect to see those pop up in the loot boxes you earn during the event.

Just as you'd expect, Lucioball is returning for Summer Games 2019 as well. You'll be able to find the mode in Overwatch's Arcade, which means that Lucioball matches you win will count toward your weekly challenges. As always, the goal is to boop your way to victory by applying Lucio's skillset to a game of soccer, with competitive rankings available for people who want to climb the leaderboards.

So, Summer Games 2019 is arriving in a form that's pretty familiar, but with a bit of a twist to go along with everything we were already expecting. The event is live now in Overwatch and runs until August 5th, so go complete your weekly challenges and unlock some free skins.