‘Overwatch 2’ developers discuss plans for guilds, loot boxes and reworks

In a recent Reddit Ask Me Anything (AMA) thread, developers from Blizzard Entertainment shared details on what new features or changes Overwatch 2 will bring.

In this Reddit thread from last night (June 22), a variety of Overwatch 2 developers turned up to answer fan-submitted questions on the sequel or its effect on the original Overwatch.

On the topic of loot boxes, commercial lead Jon Spector shared that existing in-game currencies from the first Overwatch will carry across to Overwatch 2, however unopened loot boxes will not.

“Ahead of launch, any unopened loot boxes will be automatically opened with your account receiving all the contents directly,” shared Spector – meaning players will need to open their loot boxes before launch, or Blizzard will do it for them.

For competitive players coming across from the first game, principal system designer Scott Mercer said that Blizzard “won’t be performing a complete MMR reset for Overwatch 2, but we do plan on lowering the MMR of accounts who haven’t played in a while as part of a new ‘decay’ system.”

Further into to thread, game director Aaron Keller shared that the team is currently working on improved social systems for Overwatch 2, “and a guild system is near the top of the list” for the team.

“A feature like this is a great opportunity and something we’re really excited about, but it’s a huge lift, not just for large sections of our team but several other departments at Blizzard. We have put significant work towards this feature, but it’s too early to talk about specifics or when it might come out,” added Keller.

Finally, the developers also touched on planned reworks for existing Overwatch champions. Blizzard plans to give Moira “additional utility”, while changes to Brigitte’s ultimate ability are intended to be ready for launch. For Symmetra, Blizzard will “help improve her mobility and enable her to better react to the faster pace of 5v5,” which will involve “a shorter teleporter build time and faster secondary fire projectile speed”.

Last week, a roadmap for the launch of Overwatch 2 was shared.