Blizzard Overhauls Overwatch Lootboxes and Highlights

Justice rains from above! And it comes in the form of Blizzard actually listening to the voices of its audience. Blizzard has really been cranking out the updates, lately. First, the new map drops, and now this. Thursday, they released another Developer Update, announcing some heavily requested changes. In the video, Game Director, Jeff Kaplan, revealed the upcoming overhaul of a few minor mechanics in Overwatch.

The Highlight feature got the biggest revamp. Fans have begged since the game launched, that there be a way to save highlights in-game. The task used to be a hassle, even for consoles and their native capturing capabilities. The new system will bring in the ability to save highlights using a new “recently captured” feature. Alongside the auto-generated (and usually disappointing) highlights, players will be able to capture up to 32 highlights in-game through binding keys.

The update includes an added perk for PC gamers (because of course, it does). Those playing on PC will have the ability to export highlights in 4K, 60fps, regardless of their machine’s power. It’s good to know players will be able to watch slice them to pieces in glorious HD, as often as they please. Of course, this was only one of the two updates made.

The loot box system also got an upgrade. Kaplan stated they would “drastically reduce the rate of duplicates players will get out of loot boxes.” And thus a victorious cheer was heard ’round the world. It’s easy to be jaded towards the loot box system. It can seem like its only purpose is to get people to crank out money for the chance to get something. But the loot does help add a bit of flair to the game, for some. Getting nothing but duplicates, with an obscenely low amount of gold attached to them, can be frustrating. Players who want a specific skin, highlight intro, etcetera are often forced to be extremely patient. The inconvenience only gets worse during the events, when all the new gear is more expensive.

Along with a lowered rate on duplicates, the update also increases the number of credits received from the loot boxes. Because of all this, getting new aesthetics will be less of a chore. The change is all the more welcome as more new goodies get added to the game. Maybe next they’ll add a “We Need A Tank!” command for consoles… or stop patching things that don’t need patching (Roadhog).

These updates are currently running on the Overwatch PTR. No date has been revealed for when the update will go live on the console, as of yet.