Overwatch team celebrates Microsoft buying Blizzard with Soldier 76 Halo skin

Michael Gwilliam
Master Chief and Soldier 76

The surprising purchase of Blizzard by Microsoft has resulted in an Overwatch team crafting an incredible Master Chief Soldier 76 skin that even earned Halo’s stamp of approval.

Microsoft stunned the gaming world on Tuesday by announcing they had purchased Activision Blizzard for a whopping $70 billion and Overwatch players are over the moon about the news.

With beloved series such as Call of Duty, Diablo, StarCraft, World of Warcraft, and Overwatch joining the Microsoft fold, there could be plenty of new crossover opportunities.

Now, not even a day after the deal was announced, the Overwatch League’s Washington Justice revealed a Soldier 76 skin designed to look like a Spartan from Halo and fans are loving it.

Overwatch and Halo collide with Soldier 76 skin

The newest skin puts Soldier 76’s body in Spartan armor while keeping his face covered by his traditional mask.

The mix of red and blue contrast in a manner similar to Soldier 76’s original design while keeping both the team’s colors and the Spartan’s intact.

Fans were impressed, but so too was Halo, who responded to the skin tweet by offering a fist bump between 117 (Master Chief) and 76.

Halo Infinite AR
Could Halo skins ever come to Overwatch?

“I need this as a skin, looks snazzy,” one player responded.

“I’d pay a good amount of money for this,” another replied.

It’s not clear when, or even if, Halo skins actually end up making their way to Overwatch, but hopefully, it can become a reality once the takeover is completed in 2023. Plus, with Bethesda part of Microsoft too, there is a possibility for even more crossover potential.

Whether Overwatch 2 is released by then still remains to be seen, but OWL teams will be playing on an early build of the sequel once the next season begins in April. Does that mean we see Halo content in Overwatch 2? Fans certainly hope so.

About The Author

Michael Gwilliam is a senior writer at Dexerto based in Ontario, Canada. He specializes in Overwatch, Smash, influencers, and Twitch culture. Gwilliam has written for sites across Canada including the Toronto Sun. You can contact him at michael.gwilliam@dexerto.com or on Twitter @TheGwilliam