The Overwatch community really doesn't like MM-Mei

Source: Overwatch League

 

The Overwatch League revealed a new Mei skin on Twitter and a lot of people hated it. 

 

To celebrate the Overwatch League May Melee, the Overwatch League shared a new Mei skin called MM-Mei. The MMA-themed skin features the usually heavily bundled up hero with an MMA jacket, boxing gloves, and a belt. She even has some scuffs on her fight as if she's already been in the ring. 

 

 

“Since the May Melee is the first Overwatch League tournament of the year, we wanted to design a skin that represents the peak of competition,” the Blizzard team members shared in a press release. “We felt combat sports like boxing and MMA embodied the theme well and used this to begin designing the Legendary skin. Last year we saw others in the community having fun with the May-Mei pun, and therefore felt Mei was the obvious hero choice for a May Melee skin.”

 

While the concept of an MMA-themed skin packs a punch, many in the Overwatch community were not fans of MM-Mei at all. One of the biggest complaints was that Mei appeared to have slightly darker skin and cornrows. For a lot of people, this seemed a touch like cultural appropriation. It also just didn't look like Mei at all. 

 

A lot of Overwatch fans questioned the team's decision to put Mei in cornrows. Some called for Blizzard to hire more black people to balance their team and help make skin design decisions. Others joked that this wouldn't have happened if Jeff Kaplan was still running the Overwatch team. 

 

After the initial backlash, some Overwatch community members came forward to note that this is a common practice in the MMA. No matter a fighter's race, long hair will often be put in cornrows. But even this had a lot of people rolling their eyes. Mei doesn't have long hair. It's extremely short. And others noted that it still just didn't look good or accurate. 

 

 

No matter the intent behind the skin's look, the overall consensus is that it just doesn't look like Mei at all. Thanks to her darker skin tone and questionable hairstyle, it's hard to tell right away that this is the same scientist that was cryogenically frozen and puts up obnoxious Ice Walls. Still, some MMA-enthusiasts have applauded the Overwatch League skin. 

 

The MM-Mei Legendary skin will be available to purchase with 200 League Tokens in-game now until May 11. May Melee will take place on May 6-8. 

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