Blizzard needed to change its release model to make more money and get with the times, and there wasn’t really a way to do that without throwing a number at the end and making it free-to-play across all platforms. I don’t mind this direction at all, and think it will result in a much better game when all is said and done, but something about it does irk me.

Before you post this on your angry gamer subreddit, hear me out. I think paid video game loot boxes are vile. They are predatory in nature, designed to exploit players and obscure the real cost of in-game items. I think every country in the world should outlaw them, and I’m glad Overwatch got rid of them. At the same time, Overwatch 2’s monetization is terrible. In the transition to free-to-play, we lost the ability to earn things for free. Though I’m mostly positive on the gameplay changes, it’s hard to ignore that Overwatch 2 updates|https://overwatch2fans.com/ 2’s progression is worse in almost every way. I don't love admitting it, but Overwatch was better off with loot bo

Overwatch 2 is going through an identity crisis right now, even if this weird transition was one that me and so many others expected. It will be a better game in the end because of this awkward growth, but right now my investment in Overwatch has arguably lessened the investment I have in its successor because there is less in it for me from the off. Don’t get me wrong, this is definitely a me problem , but aside from pushing through the battle pass I’m now stuck waiting to see what else awaits me on the horizon.

If I see a skin I really love, I can either grind through the battle pass to earn it or buy things outright. Sure, they’re expensive, but it will run me far less than an infinite amount of boxes trying to pull it. However, my past behaviour means that all of my accounts merging into a single entity with the launch of Overwatch 2 means I already have most of the skins I would ever want. Of course there remain a bunch of cosmetics I’d love to earn and will probably end up treating myself to in the coming months, the repertoire of outfits for each character at my disposal is honestly quite overwhelming. I have 80+ unlocks for D.Va, and that includes over twenty unique skins ranging from Black Cat to Cruiser. She was a real sticking point for me, and every new mech was almost taunting me as I tried my best to earn them whenever a seasonal event rolled around. That struggle remains, but now it’s far more manageable.

Overwatch 2 isn’t the only game with expensive cosmetics (have you heard of Pokemon Unite? ) but it might be the only one that’s ever taken previously earnable skins and charged $20 for them. Maybe if you compare Overwatch 2 to similar f2p games like Apex Legends and Fortnite you’ll see that it’s prices are right in line, but no one is comparing Overwatch 2 to Apex Legends, they’re comparing it to Overwatch. The justification for a sequel already felt weak, now it just seems like Overwatch 2 only exists so Blizzard can charge more for skins. It’s a dark day when I find myself nostalgic for loot boxes, but that is the free-to-play reality of Overwatc

I’ll start by comparing the two systems. There were two ways to earn cosmetics in Overwatch: opening loot boxes and spending Credits. You earned a loot box every level and could get three more each week for winning games in Arcade mode. During a seasonal event, you could typically earn five to ten more for free. Boxes contained four random items of varying rarity but would sometimes reward Credits equivalent to the price of a skin at that rarity. In other words, legendary Credits would be enough to buy a legendary skin. Credits could also be earned by completing matches. Receiving duplicate items also rewarded Credits, though just barely a pitta

It was convoluted and it didn’t do much to cut back on toxicity. Instead of antagonizing your teammates for not getting enough kills, players would just rub their gold medals in each other's faces. In the end, it just led to bullying with extra steps, so for Overwatch 2, the developers replaced it with a good old-fashioned scoreboard. Now players can see exactly how many elimins, assists, and deaths everyone has right away. Flaming your teammates has never been eas

Brigitte is a far more relatable character than Mercy, and girls with hair like that are always great friends. She's not intimidating like Mercy, instead she knows the solution to most problems is eating ice cream, watching Mean Girls, and listening to Taylor Swift. She'll sit in her old threadbare jumper on her cheap couch with her store-bought rose and she'll offer solutions, but it doesn't matter if these solutions are impossible and ridiculous - most problems can be solved by talking about them, and Brigitte's understanding of that makes her the most supportive Support there

Traditional archetypes in many games are tank, support, and damage/dps . Both Overwatch games make it easy to read all their heroes in their select categories. There are numerous reasons to master several characters, like someone taking your main or the balance is off between your team or the enemy's; you may need to opt for someone who you don't usually p