If you’ve spent hundreds of hours grinding Overwatch 1 events, buying loot boxes, and unlocking rare skins for your favorite heroes, you’ve almost certainly asked do overwatch 1 skins transfer to overwatch 2 before booting up the sequel for the first time. For many players, their Overwatch 1 cosmetic library represents years of effort and even real money spent, so losing that content would be a huge blow to their excitement for Overwatch 2. I’ve been playing Overwatch since its 2016 launch, and I had the same question when the sequel dropped, so I tested the transfer process myself, talked to dozens of fellow players who made the switch, and compiled all the details you need to know about getting your old skins in the new game.
Do Overwatch 1 Skins Transfer to Overwatch 2? The Short Answer
The short, reassuring answer is yes, nearly all of your Overwatch 1 skins will transfer to Overwatch 2 with no extra work required for most players. Blizzard announced this cross-generation transfer policy years before Overwatch 2 launched, specifically to address player concerns that their years of cosmetic purchases and unlocks would go to waste when the sequel replaced the original game. All unlocked cosmetics from your linked Overwatch 1 account will carry over automatically, no extra steps required for most players.
If you’re wondering how the process to transfer Overwatch 1 skins to Overwatch 2 works, it’s all tied to your Battle.net account. Any platform you play on, whether it’s PC, PlayStation, Xbox, or Switch, just needs to be linked to the same Battle.net account you used for Overwatch 1, and all your cosmetics will sync automatically. I’ve had my main account since 2016, with over 300 unlocked skins including the rare Genji Oni cross-promotion skin and the 2017 Summer Games Tracer skin, and every single one showed up in my Overwatch 2 account within an hour of my first login.
This transfer applies to more than just skins too. All your Overwatch 1 sprays, emotes, voice lines, victory poses, highlight intros, and weapon skins will also carry over to your Overwatch 2 account. You don’t have to do anything special to claim them, they’ll just be waiting in your cosmetic library when you first log in.
What Overwatch 1 Content Does Not Transfer to Overwatch 2
While nearly all skins carry over, there are a small number of exceptions for other types of Overwatch 1 content that won’t make the jump to the sequel. Most of these exclusions relate to features that Blizzard removed entirely from Overwatch 2, so they can’t be supported in the new client. Overwatch 1 loot boxes do not carry over, so you need to open any remaining boxes before you switch to Overwatch 2. If you forget to open them, you’ll lose access to any contents inside permanently, so it’s worth taking 10 minutes to open all your leftover boxes before you download the sequel.
Any in-game currency you had in Overwatch 1 is converted to legacy credits, which can only be used to purchase older Overwatch 1 cosmetics, not new Overwatch 2 skins. You can’t use legacy credits for battle passes, new event skins, or any other content released after Overwatch 2 launched, but they’re still useful for picking up any old Overwatch 1 skins you missed before the sequel came out.
The full list of Overwatch 1 content that does not transfer to Overwatch 2 includes:
- Unopened Overwatch 1 loot boxes (you must open these before accessing Overwatch 2 to claim their contents)
- Original Overwatch 1 profile level, level borders, and player level progression stats
- Overwatch 1 competitive points (these are converted to legacy credits at a 1:1 ratio, and cannot be used for Overwatch 2 competitive rewards)
- Custom game settings and saved game modes that rely on removed Overwatch 1 features
Banned Overwatch 1 accounts also won’t have any content transferred to Overwatch 2, since your account restriction carries over to all Blizzard games linked to the same Battle.net account. If you had a temporary ban that’s already expired, your content will transfer normally, but permanent bans will block all access to your legacy cosmetics.
How to Fix Missing Overwatch 1 Skins in Overwatch 2
While the transfer process works seamlessly for 99% of players, some people do run into issues where their Overwatch 1 skins don’t show up when they first log in to the sequel. Most of these issues have simple fixes, so you don’t have to panic if you don’t see your full cosmetic library right away. The most common issue is linking the wrong Battle.net account to your platform, especially if you’ve used multiple accounts for different consoles in the past.
It can take up to 72 hours for all your legacy content to appear after your first Overwatch 2 login, especially if you have a large library of skins from years of play. Blizzard’s servers have to sync all your account data from the old Overwatch 1 database to the new Overwatch 2 system, and that process can take longer for accounts with thousands of individual cosmetic items. I’ve seen players with over 1000 unlocked items wait 2 full days for all their content to show up, so give it at least 3 days before you reach out for support.
If you still don’t see your skins after 72 hours, first double-check that you’re logged in to the correct Battle.net account, and that all your gaming platforms are linked to that account. A friend of mine switched from Xbox to PC when Overwatch 2 launched, and he didn’t realize he had linked his old PS4 Battle.net account instead of his Xbox account, so he couldn’t see his 200+ skins at first. Once he corrected the account link, all his content showed up within a few hours. If that doesn’t fix the issue, you can submit a support ticket to Blizzard, with proof of ownership like old purchase receipts for skins or screenshots of your Overwatch 1 cosmetic library. Most missing skin issues are resolved within 3 business days if you provide enough information.
What to Do With Your Overwatch 1 Skins After Transferring
Once your Overwatch 1 skins show up in your Overwatch 2 account, you can use them exactly the same way you did in the original game. You can equip them on the same heroes, use them in any game mode including competitive play, quick play, and arcade, and they work exactly like any other cosmetic you unlock in Overwatch 2. There’s no restriction on using legacy skins, and they don’t have any different functionality from new Overwatch 2 skins.
You can also show off your legacy skins in your player profile, where other players can see which rare event skins you earned during Overwatch 1's lifespan. A lot of newer Overwatch 2 players never got to experience the original game’s events, so rare skins like the 2016 Winter Wonderland Mercy skin or the original Halloween Terror Reaper skin are seen as status symbols in the community now, since they’re no longer available for purchase.
You can use your converted legacy credits to pick up any Overwatch 1 skins you missed before the sequel launched, whenever they show up in the in-game shop’s legacy rotation. New legacy skins are added to the shop every week, so if there’s a specific old skin you’ve always wanted, you can keep an eye out for it. Legacy skins never expire, so you don’t have to worry about them being removed from your account at any point in the future, even as Blizzard adds more new content to Overwatch 2 in coming years.
At the end of the day, if you were worried about losing your years of hard-earned cosmetics when switching games, you can rest easy knowing the answer to do overwatch 1 skins transfer to overwatch 2 is a resounding yes for almost all players. The transfer process is seamless for most, and even if you run into small issues, Blizzard’s support team is usually quick to help resolve missing content claims. Don’t forget to open any remaining Overwatch 1 loot boxes before you make the jump, so you don’t lose out on any last-minute skins you might have missed. Enjoy showing off your classic skins to new players who never got to experience the original Overwatch events.