Loot boxes will not be sold in Overwatch from 30 August 2022, Blizzard Entertainment confirmed. Players will no longer be able to purchase them following the end of the Anniversary Remix Vol. 3 event. However, players will still be able to earn them through levelling up and participating in other in-game activities, at least for the next few months.

Blizzard’s recent blog post revealed that loot box sales in Overwatch will end on 30 August across all platforms. This comes in light of the company announcing that loot boxes won’t be in its sequel, Overwatch 2. All unopened loot boxes in player inventories will automatically be opened before the game arrives on 4 October.

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Once Overwatch 2 launches, it will ditch the loot box system in favour of a battle pass and allowing players to purchase cosmetic items directly, removing the gambling element from the series. Unlike its predecessor, the sequel will be free-to-play and that means a shift in player progression.

In a recent interview with GameSpot, Overwatch 2 director Aaron Keller spoke about the decision to remove loot boxes from the new title:

“Loot boxes, they’ve always been a part of Overwatch 1 but as the game has grown and especially as we go into a free-to-play version of the game where we’re adding more and more cosmetics, it becomes a lot harder to earn what you want with a loot box system. By losing those and moving over to a shop for Overwatch 2, it gives players the actual agency and the choice to go after what it is they want to have in the game.”

Overwatch 2 will adopt a battle pass system that popular free-to-play games like Fortnite and Apex Legends have thrived on. This is a much smarter move as it gives players the freedom to choose what they want to unlock and earn it through gameplay (or real-world money) as opposed to random luck that loot boxes were notorious for.

Overwatch 2 releases as a free-to-play title on 4 October 2022 for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC and Nintendo Switch.

Source: Blizzard Blog Post