One of the funny things about being entrenched in a game’s community for years is that you sometimes forget how it might look to someone on the outside. That happened to me this week when Blizzard announced it would be bringing loot boxes back to Overwatch 2 in Season 15 after dropping the mystery cosmetic packs when the sequel launched in 2022. When I saw that, my immediate thought was “Oh, so the people who wanted those back finally got what they wanted,” and then I mentally moved on to the next thing.
I forgot that if you hadn’t been paying attention to Overwatch 2 for several years, you might be confused as to why Blizzard would make this choice, much less frame it as something worth celebrating. It’s tied up in years of nostalgia toward the “way things used to be” in the original Overwatch and a dislike of Overwatch 2’s methods of monetization. The return of loot boxes doesn’t mean Blizzard is dismantling the expensive money dump entirely, but it is giving players a free option to maybe get the skins they want.
Why did people want loot boxes back in Overwatch 2?
When Overwatch 2 launched, it completely reorganized how you unlock and purchase cosmetics. Blizzard added an in-game shop that rotates cosmetics in and out weekly that can be purchased with in-game currency and real-world money. Compare this to how you would unlock most things in the original Overwatch; you’d unlock a loot box with each level you gained and would hope and pray the skin you wanted was inside. You couldn’t control what you got from them, but the trade-off was that everything from skins to victory poses was obtainable for free. However, if you’re not so patient, you could also buy loot boxes with real money, which is how they get you. So there was an element of gambling involved.
By the time the original Overwatch was replaced by the sequel, I had unlocked so many cosmetics that opening the free loot boxes I’d gotten was a waste of time because I was mostly finding duplicates. Sure, I probably spent a few bucks here and there trying to find something specific, but the monetary investment was nothing compared to what it’s cost me to buy new skins in Overwatch 2’s store.
That’s part of why fans have been asking for a return to loot boxes. They’re pretty much a gambling mechanic that incentivizes players to spend real money in hopes of finding their desired skin, but there was still an option to earn them for free. A dedicated player could get everything they wanted without paying a cent, but in Overwatch 2 that Mercy or Kiriko skin you’ve been eyeing is locked behind a paywall, and probably costs a pretty penny.
It’s easy to see how someone might yearn for the days when Overwatch wasn’t such a huge money investment on top of being such a grind, and it’s a pretty damning criticism of Overwatch 2’s expensive store that some people think gambling is the preferable approach. But looking at loot boxes in an Overwatch-shaped vacuum isn’t telling the whole story, which is why people who aren’t in the payload-pushing trenches are bewildered by the excitement.
Are Overwatch 2’s loot boxes exploitative or just another means of progression?
Loot boxes have always been a controversial form of microtransaction in video games. Most gacha games use them in an inherently exploitative way because they require significant monetary or time investment with only a chance of getting the rewards you want. Such mystery packs have also been a centerpiece in lawsuits and legislation as parents and elected officials deem them a predatory business model. With all this baggage, it probably looks insane from the outside to see Blizzard tout their return and fans respond with excitement, eager to accept them with open arms. From the sound of it, however, Blizzard isn’t bringing them back in the same way, and the approach the team is taking this time around sounds less exploitative than what came before.
In an interview with IGN, Overwatch 2 director Aaron Keller confirmed that Loot Boxes will only be available on the battle pass and completing challenges, with no option to purchase them with real money. Keller also confirmed in an interview with YouTuber emongg that if you get a duplicate cosmetic, you can re-roll so you’re not wasting the limited loot boxes you can get per season. Overwatch 2 has found so many ways to monetize things that were once free in the original that I’m surprised Blizzard didn’t try to monetize gambling on top of it, but considering the gambling aspect is so fraught that the U.S. government wants to get involved, this was probably the safer approach. Blizzard is also trying to be more transparent about what you might get by providing explicit drop rates so there’s less randomized mystery.
Ultimately, what Blizzard has described is less like the gambling we typically associate with loot boxes and more like a free form of progression that harkens back to the old days of Overwatch. As long as there isn’t any predatory option to pay for them with real cash, I don’t see the harm in giving people chance drops to earn old cosmetics that have rotated out of the shop. Reviving the little glowing chests that burst open with a celebratory fanfare is a nostalgia play just like the Overwatch Classic modes and bringing the old 6v6 format back. But in another timeline loot boxes could’ve been brought back exactly as they were, ready to rake in money from some poor Mercy main desperate to get the latest legendary skin.
Loot boxes will return in season 15 on February 18.