With each Valentine’s Day comes a wave of parody dating sims and visual novels. Blizzard’s latest for the occasion is Loverwatch, an Overwatch dating sim. The game is playable via browser and is promoted as “totally real” and “totally non-canon.” It is accessible via the official site, but will become inaccessible after February 28, 2023.
Check out a trailer for Loverwatch below.
The Overwatch dating sim, Loverwatch ~Love Never Dies~, takes its title from Overwatch healer Mercy’s catchphrase, “Heroes never die.” The game is hosted by “Cupid Hanzo,” a cherubic redesign of archer Hanzo Shimada. At the moment, players can only interact with two members of Overwatch‘s dozens-strong playable roster: Mercy and Genji. The tongue-in-cheek dialog in the tutorial suggests that more options could be added later. In fact, it outright implies that that Blizzard may be considering building out Loverwatch into a more robust product. Other bits of meta-humor pepper the experience, since many players are assumed to be familiar with Overwatch‘s backstory or the “lore” behind several characters. Even in-jokes like Genji’s tendency to demand healing are given a cheeky reference.
Further, active players of Overwatch 2 can obtain rewards from playing the Overwatch dating sim. Those who play while logged into their Blizzard accounts will obtain a few in-game goodies as they complete each character’s storyline. These include Icons, Titles, and Intros for Genji, Mercy, Cupid Hanzo, a set of Valentine’s Day cards, and card fronts. Make sure to obtain the “secret” ending to Loverwatch to earn everything. That means you’ll need to successfully woo both Genji and Mercy over a couple of runs.
Finally, for those willing to spend some coins in the Overwatch 2 shop, there’s a Legendary Cupid Hanzo bundle available for 1,500 Overwatch Coins. The bundle will unlock the highlight intros upon purchase, as well as a playable Cupid Hanzo skin.
Overwatch 2 is free-to-play on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch. Season 3 of the game’s content lineup will include crossover skins with One-Punch Man.
