I remember grinding for weeks to level up and earn loot boxes in the original Overwatch, just hoping to get the legendary Genji Cyber Demon skin I’d been obsessing over. If you’re a new or returning player jumping into the sequel for the first time, one of the first questions you probably have is are loot boxes in Overwatch 2 a thing, or did Blizzard scrap the system entirely when they switched to a free-to-play model. A lot has changed between the two games, from hero rosters to competitive rules, and the reward system is one of the biggest shifts most players notice right away. We’re breaking down everything you need to know about loot drops, carry-over items, and whether the new system is better for players than the old loot box model.
Are Loot Boxes in Overwatch 2 Available for Purchase or Earnable?
If you’ve been searching for answers to this question, the short and clear answer is no. There is no way to earn or purchase traditional random loot boxes in the live version of Overwatch 2 right now. Blizzard removed all loot box functionality when the game launched in 2022, replacing the random drop system with a battle pass and rotating in-game item shop. The only exception to this rule was a limited-time April Fools’ event a few years back, where players could earn free joke loot boxes that contained silly, non-permanent items like absurd voice lines and meme sprays. Those were never intended to be a permanent addition, just a fun nod to long-time fans of the original game.
Blizzard made the shift ahead of launch after multiple countries, including Belgium and the Netherlands, ruled that paid loot boxes constituted unregulated gambling, especially for underage players who make up a large portion of the Overwatch player base. A lot of players ask if there’s any hidden way to get loot boxes through seasonal challenges or event rewards, but there are no secret or hidden random loot drops available right now. All rewards in the current game are either listed in the battle pass track or the item shop, so you always know exactly what you’re earning or buying.
How Does Overwatch 2's Reward System Work Instead of Loot Boxes?
Instead of random loot boxes, Overwatch 2 uses two core reward systems to give players cosmetics and other items: the seasonal battle pass, and the rotating in-game item shop. The battle pass runs for 9 weeks each season, and you earn progress towards it just by playing matches, no matter what game mode you prefer. You get extra progress for winning matches, and completing daily and weekly challenges gives you huge chunks of progress on top of that. If you buy the premium battle pass, you also get 20% extra battle pass experience for all matches you play, which makes it much easier to unlock all the rewards before the season ends. I play about 4 hours a week, and I usually finish the full battle pass 1 to 2 weeks before the season ends, even without the 20% experience boost, as long as I complete most of my weekly challenges.
The in-game shop rotates items on a weekly and daily basis, including new legendary skins, legacy items from the original Overwatch, and limited-time event exclusive cosmetics. To buy these items, you’ll use one of three core currencies in the game:
If you only play casually and don’t care about getting every new skin, you can easily get by without spending any real money. The free track of every battle pass comes with a handful of free skins, sprays, voice lines, and a small amount of Overwatch Coins, so you can save up for the occasional skin you really want without pulling out your credit card.
What Happened to My Loot Box Items from the Original Overwatch?
If you played the original Overwatch for years and collected hundreds of skins from loot boxes, you don’t have to worry about losing all that progress when you switch to Overwatch 2. You don't have to do anything to access your old loot box items, as long as you're using the same account you used for the original game. All skins, sprays, emotes, voice lines, and other cosmetic items you unlocked in the first game automatically carry over to your Overwatch 2 collection the first time you log in.
Any unopened loot boxes you had left in the original Overwatch were automatically opened for you when Overwatch 2 launched, and all the items from those boxes were added directly to your collection. I had over 20 unopened loot boxes saved up when the sequel launched, and I was relieved to see all the items from them showed up in my collection without any extra steps. Some players have reported issues with missing items if they had multiple Battle.net accounts linked to different platforms, but you can fix that by merging all your accounts through the Battle.net website, which combines all your collections from every platform into one.
It’s worth noting that any seasonal event items you earned from loot boxes in the original game are still exclusive, and won’t show up in the regular Overwatch 2 shop unless Blizzard specifically brings them back for a limited time rerun. That means if you have the original Witch Mercy skin from the 2017 Halloween Terror event, you still have one of the rarer skins in the game right now.
Is Overwatch 2's Reward System Better or Worse Than Loot Boxes?
This is one of the most hotly debated topics in the Overwatch community, and there’s no one right answer for every player. The biggest upside of the new system is the total lack of randomness. If you want a specific skin, you can wait for it to show up in the shop and buy it directly, instead of spending hundreds of dollars on loot boxes hoping you get lucky. If you only care about a small number of specific skins, the new system is cheaper, but if you want to collect a lot of cosmetics, you'll end up spending far more than you would have with loot boxes.
I’ve seen both sides of this argument as a long-time player. I used to love the thrill of opening a loot box and getting a legendary skin I’d been wanting for months, but I also spent over $100 on loot boxes one year trying to get the limited-time Witch Mercy skin, and I never ended up getting it. With the new system, when that skin came back to the shop last year, I just paid $20 for it directly, no hassle, no wasted money. Blizzard has also faced criticism for locking new heroes behind the paid battle pass in earlier seasons, though they've since adjusted to let free players unlock heroes by completing challenges.
The biggest downside for most players is the cost of individual items. Legendary skins in the shop cost $20 each, which is far more than most players paid for skins in the original game’s loot box system. For players who like to collect every new skin that comes out, that adds up to hundreds of dollars a year, versus the $60 upfront cost of the original game plus occasional $10 loot box bundles. For completely free casual players who don’t care about cosmetics, the two systems are almost identical, since you still get free items just by playing matches either way.
At the end of the day, if you were a fan of the original Overwatch’s loot box system, you might be disappointed to learn are loot boxes in Overwatch 2 not part of the current game design. But the switch away from random drops has also made the game far more accessible for players who don’t want to gamble for their favorite skins, and you never have to worry about wasting money on boxes full of duplicate items you don’t want. If you’re new to the game, take some time to test out the battle pass and shop systems before spending any money, so you can figure out what’s worth it for your playstyle. You don’t need any fancy skins to climb the competitive ranks or have fun with friends, after all.