Summary
Back whenOverwatch 2launched, it made a lot of changes to the game. With character reworks and a switch from 6v6 to 5v5, almost everything was overhauled - including how the game was monetised. From then on, Overwatch was free-to-play, and would make its money through battle passes, getting rid of loot boxes entirely.
Now, loot boxes are coming back. This is afterplayers complained about battle passes, hating the grind and struggling to get specific skins. Now, we’ll once again have a random chance to get a range of skins, although they will be tied to the battle pass and weekly challenges that many take issue with.
Overwatch 2 Is Getting Loot Boxes
But the battle pass isn’t going anywhere
This was revealed as part of today’s Overwatch Spotlight broadcast, revealing what’s in store for us in 2025. Here, it was confirmed that loot boxes are back and will be part of Season 15, which starts on February 18.
Blizzardsays that it will be “transparent” about what’s inside loot boxes, which will be done by disclosing the rates of different items being inside each one. This will address a common complaint about loot boxes, since many hide these chances from players, incentivizing them to pick up more to get the loot they want.
While they are tied to the battle pass, we can see that they’re available on the free route, so you shouldn’t have to upgrade to premium. They can also be unlocked through weekly challenges, and we see an example of a challenge giving you five loot boxes at once upon completion. It’s currently unclear if players will be able to purchase them in bulk as they could do before.
Many might welcome the return of loot boxes, but they were controversial at the time.Some studieshavelinked loot boxes to problem spending habits and gambling, and some governments eitherbanned themor at leastinvestigated the matter
The return of loot boxes isn’t all we got in the Overwatch Spotlight. We also got a look ata new game mode, hero perks, andtwo new heroes.
