Overwatch 2 has reintroduced loot boxes, but what is the reason for this sudden reintroduction of it after it was removed in the original Overwatch?

Overwatch 2 is a first-person hero shooter game that was developed by Blizzard Entertainment back in August of 2023. Although its predecessor, Overwatch, garnered a lot of players and was a massive hit, when it was released in 2016, Overwatch 2 failed to get a similar reception because Blizzard removed a lot of crucial features, including loot boxes.
Overwatch 2 is reintroducing loot boxes to the game | Image Credits: Blizzard Entertainment
Blizzard has finally reintroduced loot boxes back into the game, giving free stuff to the players as a way of saying thank you. But why was it removed in the first place? And why was Blizzard so keen on reintroducing it now? Let’s delve deeper into the article to find out.

Blizzard reintroduces loot boxes in Overwatch 2

Blizzard removed loot boxes when the sequel was released | Image Credits: Blizzard Entertainment

When Overwatch 2 was released, it did not really appeal to general gamers and even to its own player base. On top of not adding the new features and game modes that Blizzard promised in the sequel, they also removed some crucial features from Overwatch, including 6v6 and loot boxes. This upset the players and what made them even more frustrated was that Blizzard were not even listening to their own community.

Loot boxes were a crucial aspect of Overwatch, players enjoyed and were excited about the rewards that they would get from loot boxes, and removing it from the sequel was a massive blunder from Blizzard. Instead of loot boxes, Blizzard introduced a new way to get skins and other cosmetics in the game, and that is through Battle Pass, which players have to grind through or spend a limitless amount of money to get anything valuable.

Loot boxes were removed from the game because the was associated a lot with gambling, which resulted in Blizzard pulling themselves out of the loot boxes trend. Although this helped Blizzard make more money morally, it significantly reduced the amount of rewards players were getting from the game.

In a recent interview with PCGames, Overwatch 2 director Aaron Keller acknowledged that the current Overwatch is not rewarding enough and the reintroduction of loot boxes will make players feel better about their time being spent in the game.

We didn’t didn’t feel like Overwatch 2 was rewarding players enough, especially free players, for the time they’ve put into the game. Loot boxes are a system that allows us to be pretty generous, and our intention is to be very generous with the way we give loot boxes out to our players.

Keller also mentioned that there are multiple ways for players to earn loot boxes in the game, regardless of whether they purchase the battle pass or not.

How Marvel Rivals influenced Blizzard to take this step

Blizzard wants to regain relevancy in their game | Image Credits: Blizzard Entertainment

Although the return of loot boxes in the game is a joyous moment, most Overwatch 2 players are seemingly unbothered by it, and that is because Blizzard’s reintroduction of loot boxes in the game seems to be a strategic move that was largely influenced by the increasing popularity of Marvel Rivals.

Marvel Rivals has been drawing players away from Overwatch 2 since it was launched back in December of 2024. Rivals became so popular that the game is averaging out more than 200,000 players per day. The game became an instant hit, and to win the player base back, Blizzard took the major step of bringing back loot boxes.

While this decision is aimed towards giving players the nostalgic feeling of opening a loot box like they used to in the original Overwatch, only time will tell if this move by Blizzard will truly help Overwatch 2 regain relevance or not.