The Overwatch dating sim and its associated rewards are back for a limited time, but it's still got far fewer romances than its China-exclusive counterpart

Overwatch dating sim - Genji, Cupid Hanzo, and Mercy — (Image credit: Activision Blizzard)

Loverwatch—the cheeky browser-based dating sim where you win the hearts of various Overwatch heroes—is back. It first appeared as an impromptu Valentine's Day celebration in 2023, and back then you could romance Genji, Hanzo, or Mercy. Last year, western Overwatchers howled in lonely despair as China got an exclusive sequel of sorts to the event which included a different, larger selection of heroes, and even though the sim's back, the lonely howling will continue..

For the first time since 2023, you can play the dating sim again, but it doesn't come bearing any new romance paths. You can, however, get the rewards you might have missed the first time around: a few profile icons and titles, as well as the Cupid's Kiss highlight intro for Hanzo. If you want to find love by following a written guide instead of your heart, we have the technology for that.

Still, I sympathize with the players who long for more. Time and time again, competitive games come in hot with a bite-sized spinoff that teases a world of possibilities, and then it's promptly taken down as it was only ever intended to be a seasonal novelty. Am I saying Blizzard should pull its focus from the currently thriving Overwatch to add more options to a limited-time dating sim? If it means Reaper and I can spend a cold Valentine's Day night by the fire together, absolutely.

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Justin first became enamored with PC gaming when World of Warcraft and Neverwinter Nights 2 rewired his brain as a wide-eyed kid. As time has passed, he's amassed a hefty backlog of retro shooters, CRPGs, and janky '90s esoterica. Whether he's extolling the virtues of Shenmue or troubleshooting some fiddly old MMO, it's hard to get his mind off games with more ambition than scruples. When he's not at his keyboard, he's probably birdwatching or daydreaming about a glorious comeback for real-time with pause combat. Any day now...

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