Overwatch anniversary event loot boxes and GOTY edition confirmed

Overwatch will celebrate its first anniversary with the launch of a boxed Game of the Year (GOTY) edition and an anniversary event that will include 100 new items, including new character outfits and skins, new sprays, animations and more.

According to TrueAchievements.com, which scouts the Xbox Store for new releases, the new items will be dished out in special anniversary loot boxes available from whenever the event starts through until Monday 5 June.

In a change from tradition, each loot box will contain "up to four cosmetic items, including at least one anniversary Skin" in a move sure to please fans of Blizzard's enormously popular online shooter.

The event may start on Tuesday 23 May, when the GOTY edition TrueAchievements.com also spotted is reportedly set to release. They only learned of an Xbox One version, but presumably it will be released for PS4 and PC as well.

The GOTY edition will include the base game of course, as well as 10 loot boxes, Origin skins for five of Overwatch's unique hero characters, a Baby Winston pet for World of Warcraft, a Tracer Hero for Heroes of the Storm and more.

The anniversary event may well encompass more than just new loot boxes, but we'll have to wait for Blizzard's official announcement to find out.

Last week (4 May) evidence began to mount that an anniversary event was in the pipeline, with an update to the game's public test realm (PTR) server revealing the potential number of new items being introduced for the game's 24 heroes, as well as three potential new maps.

In April, director Jeff Kaplan revealed that there are three ''standard'' new maps in the works that are set for release in 2017.

For all the latest video game news follow us on Twitter @IBTGamesUK.