Overwatch's New Genji Skin Is More Powerful Than You Realized

The Winter Wonderland holiday event has returned to "Overwatch," but players are taking notice of more than just the snow-covered maps and seasonal cosmetics this year. A new Genji skin has the potential to make the character even deadlier, easing up on the difficulty and learning curve players typically encounter. Some have been quick to adopt the new skin and seemingly take enjoy its built-in advantages, but others have argued that the cosmetic doesn't bring anything new to the table.

Seasonal events in multiplayer games have become somewhat commonplace in the gaming industry, with popular titles like "Destiny 2" or "Fortnite" often offering players the chance to get festive with limited-time in-game holidays. "Overwatch" is no different in this regard, celebrating several holidays throughout the year and introducing exclusive rewards for participating players. While "Overwatch" events commonly introduce new character skins or other in-game items, they seldom affect the game beyond appearance.

For better or worse, that might not be the case this year. Players are claiming the new Ice Wraith Genji skin is making the character stronger. Plus, with the cosmetic available to all willing to shell out for it, some have even likened the new appearance to pay-to-win features. Here's why players think a new holiday skin buffed Genji and what players are saying about it.

Genji's new Ice Wraith skin may look cool (literally), but it's not its appearance that has players' attention. The new Legendary skin has a neat built-in feature that makes mastering the character's abilities a bit easier. Reddit user DinoDracko posted about the anomaly, saying, "With Genji's new Christmas Skin, when you deflect while blading, one of the sword tips lines up with your crosshair perfectly." In essence, players have found that the new skin can make deflecting and lining up shots all the easier.

While the comments on DinoDracko's post mostly seem to favor the new skin, some have argued that the item offers too much advantage for something that can be bought. That said, others have pointed out that "Overwatch" has an ever-present aim reticle anyway, so this skin doesn't actually offer much of an advantage. If anything, it's a more dynamic and visually pleasing representation of what's already there, and for plenty of players, that's just fine. Regardless of whether a player purchases the skin for its chilling appearance or in the hopes that it helps them play the character better, the Ice Wraith Genji skin is available throughout the length of the Winter Wonderland event, ending on Jan. 6.