Overwatch 2 may be free-to-play, but the game is designed to have players spend their money on it, whether it be for cosmetics or exclusive story campaigns.
One of the main pieces of currency in Overwatch 2 is the OW coins, and they’re only one of multiple types in the entire game. Though it’s easiest to earn them via the Overwatch 2 store, there are other methods of gaining them besides having to dole out your cash.
What are Overwatch 2 Coins?
Overwatch 2 has four kinds of currency, each with its special perks. Competitive Coins, Overwatch League Tokens, and Overwatch Credits exist. Players can only pay for OWL Tokens and Coins, and Credits and Competitive Points must be earned in-game.
If anything, Credits function as the weaker version of the Overwatch Coin. Though you can still buy all kinds of skins and emotes with your Credits, some exclusive and highly valued skins can only be bought via Overwatch Coins—no matter how much you grind.
Purchase Overwatch 2 Coins Through the Overwatch Store
The most basic way to get Overwatch Coins is through money, and you can buy bundles available in the playstore. Though some bundles cost as low as 5 USD, the prices can go up to 100 USD.
If it’s any consolation, availing of the more expensive bundles does earn players some extra coins, so it could be cheaper to just buy in huge numbers—depending on how valuable in-game items are to a player. Here’s the list of prices:
500 Coins – $4.99
1000 Coins – $9.99
2000 Coins (+200 Bonus Coins) – $19.99
5000 Coins (+700 Bonus Coins) – $49.99
10,000 Coins (+1,600 Bonus Coins) – $99.99
It’s also worth noting that you can buy specific bundles with their bonus coins to avail of some other goods instead of just buying OW Coins. For example, the 6th Season of Overwatch 2 offers the Invasion bundles, and besides getting access to story missions and a new hero, the bundles also come with Coins that players can spend on what they choose.
Overwatch 2 Weekly Challenges
If spending money isn’t your thing, though, the game has a system where you can earn Overwatch Coins through playing—but you’ll have to grind for it.
Completing enough Weekly Challenges will let the game reward you with actual OverwatchCoins. This should sound great for any player, but when you look at the rewards based on the requirements, you’ll see that you’ll need constant dedication to the game every week to earn less than a hundred coins.
Here’s the reward list:
30 Coins – Complete 4 Weekly Challenges
20 Coins – Complete 8 Weekly Challenges
10 Coins – Complete 11 Weekly Challenges
Say that you complete 11 weekly challenges. You would have spent nearly three months earning 60 Overwatch Coins—which isn’t enough to buy a common skin.
Ain’t About the Money
It’s all ultimately up to the player. Sure, it’s a grind to get a measly amount of OW Coins for free, but it does put into perspective the cost of just buying OW coins with actual money.
Other gamers have criticized Blizzard for how harsh their system is when gaining cosmetics without spending money. Still, other huge titles like Fortnite and Valorant all employ the same methods to make a game profitable and have it earn more cash.
Even before the game was free-to-play, Overwatch was criticized for using loot boxes to get more people to spend money, and it took a while before they could come up with the system they have now.
Then again, the game is always updating, and some optimists hope Blizzard will eventually get to a model that most people are fine with.
