As Overwatch 2 will replace the original Overwatch once it’s available, players have several questions about the transition. Specifically, how in-game credits and loot boxes will transfer from Overwatch to Overwatch 2. Now, we have more insight into the switch as several Overwatch 2 team members jumped on Reddit to hold an Ask Me Anything where they fielded questions from audiences who would like to know more about the upcoming sequel. Although the team discussed plenty of noteworthy things, one of the highlights was how Blizzard would handle the original Overwatch currencies. For this, Overwatch’s Commercial Lead, Jon Spector, clarified that all older in-game credits will transfer over to Overwatch 2, including OWL talents, competitive points, and even lootboxes. Unfortunately, the transferable credits come with a caveat: “our new virtual currency will be the main currency,” Spector writes, “there will be things in OW2 that will not be purchasable with those OW1 credits.” TLDR; you can still use older in-game currencies in Overwatch 2, but they will no longer be the primary currency. In addition, Spector explains that Blizzard will open loot boxes still left in players’ accounts. So, don’t be surprised if you suddenly got more in-game cosmetics en-masse if you still have unopened loot boxes. Here is a summary of everything else that was explained in the AMA:
Overwatch 2 will replace Overwatch. The Overwatch 2 team is excited about the move to a seasonal content basis. This effectively allows them to “release content when it’s finished rather than holding it to put into a box.” Blizzard has grown the development team for Overwatch 2 by over three times with heroes for season 2 almost finished and several others already in playtesting. The PvE elements of Overwatch 2 will come out later as part of Blizzard’s live-service approach. PvE campaign components could help the Overwatch 2 team come up with replacement maps for the PvP modes. A guild system is “near the top of the list” for the Overwatch 2 development team. More changes are coming to existing Overwatch heroes and maps in Overwatch 2.
The next year is going to be huge for Blizzard. In addition to Overwatch 2’s soft release in October, Diablo 4 is also set to come out in 2023.
