A longstanding Overwatch and Overwatch 2 tradition has been its focus on unique, interesting skins and cosmetics for the Overwatch heroes. The ability for players to earn and apply skins and cosmetics to their favorites of the 35 Overwatch 2 heroes adds a welcome layer of customization into the hero shooter. In a game where an opponent may be playing the same hero, a wide variety of skins allows players to personalize and identify their teammates more easily.
When Activision-Blizzard made the transition from the original game to the live-service, free-to-play sequel Overwatch 2, many fans expressed frustration with the pricing of skins in the game. With Legendary skins costing nearly $20 at the time of the game's launch, fans were upset with the new store model that removed loot boxes, as that was how a majority of skins were obtained in the original game. However, buying skins in the game store is not the only way to earn unique skins, as players can get Overwatch 2 cosmetics just by watching Twitch.
Overwatch 2 Season 3 Twitch Drops
As Overwatch 2 prepares to lead into its upcoming season, Activision-Blizzard has revealed several Season 3 Overwatch 2 skins that players will be able to purchase and unlock in the game. Alongside the new skins being revealed, it was announced that players will be able to earn cosmetics, including skins, for free by watching a certain amount of hours on specific Twitch streams. The pre-season 3 promotion will come in three waves between February and April 2023, allowing players to claim a variety of sprays, weapon cosmetics, and skins for characters like Ashe, Reinhardt, Reaper, and others.
In phase one, which runs from February 1 to 21, players will be able to claim the first Legendary skin that has been confirmed to be part of the season 3 Overwatch 2 Twitch drops. The Legendary Socialite Ashe skin can be earned by watching four hours of specific Overwatch 2 Twitch content and puts DPS gunslinger Ashe in a high-class rose colored waistcoat, accented by a pink rifle and an oversized hat featuring a large fascinator. Ashe's robot companion, B.O.B., also fits the socialite theme in a sleek tuxedo, including dress shoes and a gold pocket watch chain. In earning the Legendary Ashe skin, players will also earn Ashe's Seven of Spades Spray for free. Starting on February 28, phase 2 of the Twitch drops will begin and players will be able to unlock an exclusive Reinhardt spray and weapon charm.
Past Overwatch 2 Twitch Drops
This isn't the first time that skins and cosmetics for Overwatch 2 have been available for free through Twitch drops. During the game's season 2, Twitch drops were available for Overwatch 2's Winter Wonderland event. While the current phase of Twitch drops only features one Legendary skin, between December 2022 and late January 2023, players had the opportunity to unlock a total of three Legendary skins for the heroes Moira, D.Va, and Ramattra, in addition to unlocking sprays, poses, and more.
While players can no longer get these skins, they can be seen in-game as players who did unlock the cosmetics equip them. Ramattra's Legendary Traveling Monk skin, D.Va's festive Legendary Sleighing skin, and Moira's colorful Legendary Masked Dancer skin may look like expensive cosmetics, but players with a keen eye and an ear to the Overwatch 2 online communities will know that the skins were actually free — only costing a few hours of time.
How to Get Overwatch 2 Twitch Drops
Players that missed previous Overwatch 2 Twitch drops don't need to fret; there are more going on right now and will likely continue in the future as other Overwatch 2 events take place. In order to take advantage of these free cosmetics when they're available, players can connect their Overwatch 2 profiles to Twitch in order to claim the drops when they happen. In order to claim the drops, fans should log in to their Battle.net account and click the "Connect" button for Twitch. Then, after connecting the accounts, players can log in to Twitch, navigate to the Overwatch 2 category, and begin watching a stream that has the "Twitch drops enabled" tag. It's important to watch streams with drops enabled, otherwise the time watching will not count toward the quote needed to earn rewards. After watching the required amount of stream time, players will be able to unlock and claim their Overwatch 2 cosmetics in their Twitch profile.
While cosmetics and skins have caused controversy in Overwatch 2 due to pricing, players still have opportunities to earn Legendary skins for free. As the Twitch drops continue alongside various Overwatch 2 announcements and events, Activision-Blizzard doesn't seem to have any plans to halt the practice, so fans and players hoping to unlock free Legendary skins should keep an eye out on gaming news and social media for any upcoming Twitch drop events.
Overwatch 2 is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.