'Overwatch' Anniversary: Why we're expecting a big announcement today

After a leak revealed loot boxes for a forthcoming Overwatch anniversary event, the fandom was sure the start of the new event would happen Tuesday. In the absence of any more leaks, doubt has begun to creep in.

Furthermore, the Overwatch Twitter appeared to dash hopes, saying that it would let fans know ahead of time when a new event was going to begin, and not just spring it on them. 

That said, there's still hope on the horizon: The reveal — rather than the start — of the Overwatch anniversary event is likely to happen Tuesday. Here's what's going on.

Here's why fans thought the Overwatch anniversary event would start today

The whole reason the Overwatch fandom thought the event would be starting Tuesday has to do with the length of previous events. The leak from the Xbox store that revealed the look of the anniversary loot boxes said they would be available until June 5. Since previous events have lasted about three weeks, fans worked their way back from June 5 to assume that the event would start Tuesday.

However, the Overwatch Twitter responded to a question about the event's start date, stating that Blizzard would announce the start date of any impending events beforehand, as it has with previous events.

The Overwatch anniversary event reveal trailer is likely on the horizon

In light of the announcement from the Overwatch Twitter, the online fan consensus seems to have shifted from the idea that the anniversary event will start Tuesday, to the hope that it will simply reveal the event through a short teaser trailer.

These kinds of teasers a week or so ahead of time have been the norm for the last several Overwatch events, like Winter Wonderland, Year of the Rooster and Uprising.

Since the official Overwatch anniversary is May 24 — and since Overwatch updates tend to rollout on Tuesdays — a May 23 start date for the anniversary event actually makes a bit more sense. Perhaps that June 5 end date from the Xbox store leak was just a placeholder date — or, maybe this event isn't quite as long as previous ones.

Worse yet, there might not be a tease today, either. Either way, we'll keep you updated as more information becomes available.

More Overwatch news and updates

For more on Overwatch, check out the rest of what Mic has to offer. Here is an essay about how Efi Oladele was a missed opportunity for Overwatch, a deep dive into the issue of sexual harassment in Overwatch voice chat, an unintentionally hilarious infographic showing the most popular Overwatch characters in each state, a criticism of Blizzard's failures in its design of Symmetra and a dive into a cool trend on Tumblr that converts your most-played heroes into a psychedelic illustration.