Blizzard just handed out free lootboxes and double XP — and it’s perfectly timed

Blizzard is sweetening Overwatch’s relaunch with free lootboxes and double XP – here’s why it matters

This weekend’s Overwatch giveaway is more than a cute PR move: Blizzard is handing every player five free lootboxes and double match XP from Feb 20-23 (region reset times) to lock in momentum as the game relaunches under the old name and kicks off Season 1: The Reign of Talon. If you care about battle pass progress, cosmetics, or just a reason to log back in, this is the exact kind of nudge that matters.

• Freebies: Five free lootboxes automatically awarded on login this weekend (Feb 20-23).
• Progression: Double match XP applies to all matches across the same dates, stacking with other XP bonuses but not challenge-specific boosts.
• Context: The rewards coincide with Overwatch reverting from “Overwatch 2” back to “Overwatch,” a UI overhaul, five new heroes, a year-long narrative arc, and a Steam player peak.

Breaking down the weekend bonuses

Multiple outlets reported the move as a thank-you for Season 1’s reception (GamesRadar, Steam News, PC Gamer). Claim your lootboxes by logging in; the double match XP is applied automatically after matches. Practically, that’s a fast-track for battle pass tiers – especially useful if you’re mid-progress on the premium track and want to hit those higher cosmetic rewards without buying tier skips.

Blizzard’s timing is deliberate. The company has already been handing out compensation lootboxes (there were complaints and a compensation pack earlier), and this weekend’s freebies sit alongside other live events like Conquest and Lunar New Year promotions that also hand out rewards. Put together, players who log in now can amass a meaningful stack of boxes and XP with minimal effort.

Why now – the relaunch, a storyline reset, and a player surge

The giveaway isn’t an isolated generosity play: it’s a retention tactic timed with a larger brand pivot. Blizzard announced it’s dropping the “2” and rebranding the game back to Overwatch while launching The Reign of Talon — a year-long narrative told through seasons, cinematics, and events. That relaunch, plus five new heroes and a UI overhaul, helped push Steam numbers to new highs, and the freebies are a way to convert that curiosity spike into long-term engagement (as GamesRadar and Steam News point out).

Quick reality check: excitement with caveats

I’m glad Blizzard is rewarding players, and double match XP is the kind of thing that actually helps you feel rewarded for playing. But freebies don’t erase deeper questions about balance and sustainment: Overwatch’s relaunch promises regular new-hero drops and a refreshed live roadmap, which is great — provided those new heroes don’t fracture competitive play or trigger hotfixes every week.

Speaking of balance: Jetpack Cat is already getting nerfed

That last point matters because one of the five new heroes — nicknamed Jetpack Cat — has been so dominant that Blizzard is preparing immediate nerfs. GamesRadar and Steam News report the developer acknowledged the hero’s perks make her “very, very lethal,” and Alec Dawson (associate game director) said early tweaks are incoming next week with a mid-season perk swap planned. Community reports of frequent bans and Conquest voting patterns driven by Jetpack Cat cosmetics (PC Gamer) show how rapidly a single hero can reshape player behavior — and why Blizzard is eager to smooth things out.

What this means for players and monetization

For players, the takeaway is straightforward: log in this weekend. The freebies make grinding the battle pass less painful, and double match XP speeds up progression in a way that tier skips don’t (they’re useless once you’ve hit the top of a standard track). For collectors, those five lootboxes plus recent compensation boxes and event drops mean you actually have a chance at grabbing a Jetpack Cat-themed cosmetic or other limited items — which, as PC Gamer notes, still drives a lot of community behavior more than story beats do.

For Blizzard, the giveaway is a low-cost, high-visibility retention tool. It helps convert the Steam peak and social buzz into stickiness while the team irons out balance kinks. If the studio follows through with steady new-hero cadence and fixes like the planned Jetpack Cat adjustments, this relaunch could be the long game Overwatch needed — otherwise expect more bandaids in the form of free boxes.

TL;DR

Blizzard’s giving everyone five free lootboxes and double match XP from Feb 20-23 to celebrate Overwatch’s rebrand and Season 1 kickoff. It’s a smart retention push that helps progression and cosmetics hunting — but the relaunch still needs smart balance work (see Jetpack Cat) if this momentum is going to last.