Deal with it: The Pink Mercy Overwatch 2 skin is gone forever

Hey Overwatch 2 fans: Learn to take a hint. She's just not that into you. It's not her, it's you. You are the weakest link. Please leave the chateau. You must now leave the Big Brother house. You've been chopped. To paraphrase our queen Taylor Swift: It's you, hi. You're the problem, it's you. Or to be more blunt: The pink Mercy Overwatch 2 charity skin is never, ever ever getting back in the game.

And yet, some folks still held out hope over the last few weeks thanks to a Blizzard editing error that one of the most limited skins in Overwatch would make a return. Well, you're wrong. I'm sorry.

Released in May 2018, the Pink Mercy Overwatch skin was part of a joint effort by Blizzard with the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. What made this promotion stand out among so many others of its ilk was that "Blizzard Entertainment will donate 100% the proceeds that it receives from all Pink Mercy skin sales to BCRF, with a guaranteed minimum donation of $250,000 (USD)."

It makes perfect sense that this skin would never return, as that was the entire point of the promotion. "We're making this very limited time thing to raise as much money as possible. Act accordingly."

Regardless, Overwatch stans have never been able to let go. Look up "Mercy" and scroll down enough on Twitter and you'll... Well, you'll probably hit a lot of Rule 34 first. However, after all of that is out of the way you'll inevitably find someone complaining about the Pink Mercy skin not being available.

At a point it's become more of a meme than an actual call to action. It's almost like the old "CM Punk" chants that cursed all World Wrestling Entertainment live shows for a decade. It's invocation is more of a declaration of annoyance and disdain than it is actually asking for the skin to return.

So, what disturbed the clown car this time and got everyone thinking the Pink Mercy skin was making a comeback? The problem arose last month when an Amazon Prime Gaming video post announcing a new Overwatch 2 promotion used the Mercy skin. Of course, this awoke the sleeping beast and Amazon's call of "This is happening!" got everyone all hot and bothered.

Blizzard was fast to apologize for the error and stated that this was not an indication the skin was making a return. The door was shut all the way at the end of March when a Blue Post by a community manager said it emphatically: "We have no plans to bring back the Pink mercy skin or icons."

And yet.

We live in a world that suddenly became obsessed with digital scarcity thanks to the NFT gold rush. However, the NFT craze was based on the grift that a digital object can mature in value, but only if you got in on the ground floor as soon as possible. What we're talking about in reference to the Pink Mercy Overwatch 2 skin is not that. The skin no longer being offered has nothing to do with scarcity, value, fairness, or worth.

It was for charity. A one-time promotion meant to offer an item that will never--and should never--be offered again. Missed it the first time? Too bad. In a world where game items being called "rare" doesn't really mean anything anymore, it's all the more important that Blizzard never sell this skin again.

I commend Blizzard for sticking to its guns. The skin was a moment in time, meant to raise as much money as possible for breast cancer research. Would it have sold as well if the promotion had said "We'll sell this again at some point down the road!" No. The company stated that once it was gone it would be gone forever and that should mean something.

Not only is it a promise to the folks who did buy in and got the skin, but it's a rare assurance of taking a game publisher at its word.

So, I look forward to this conversation happening yet again the next time a Mercy skin is released. Goodie.

Stay tuned to esports.gg for esports news and Mercy skins.