Overwatch's big Season 1 reimagining, dropping the infamous '2' in its name, adding five new heroes, reworking maps, and overhauling its UI, has given it a new lease on life. So much so that it broke its all-time player count on Steam, a trend which no doubt rippled across other platforms, and it's still holding strong. This glow-up has been a long time in the making, but it's great to see Overwatch back on the map.
To celebrate the occasion, Blizzard has announced "a token of appreciation for keeping the matches rolling", that being double match XP and five free lootboxes all weekend—Friday, 20 February, until Monday, 23 February, to be exact, starting and ending at the reset time in your region, such as 11 am PT / 2 pm ET / 7 pm GMT.
Guess our weekend plans are officially booked now 🤩As a token of appreciation for keeping the matches rolling, enjoy double XP all weekend long plus 5 bonus Loot Boxes from Feb 20 @ 11am PT to Feb 23 🎁 pic.twitter.com/LTsh71UVknFebruary 20, 2026
Sitting pretty next to the 14 compensation lootboxes for Overwatch's progression fumble last week, you've got a healthy stockpile for barely lifting your finger. There are also various events going on right now that also dole out lootboxes, such as Conquest and Year of the Horse (Lunar New Year). I'd say that's pretty good going, though I'll change my tune if I don't get anything I want in them, of course.
The double match XP (this means it sadly doesn't boost challenges) is perfect for blitzing through your battle pass tiers, especially as it stacks with other bonuses you might have from playing with friends or the premium pass.
I much prefer an XP boost as thanks rather than tier skip tokens, as the latter doesn't apply once you've cleared the standard 80-level reward track. In other words, they're useless if you've finished the pass and have your sights set on a title that could require grinding up to 120 more levels—I'm aiming for Chronically Online at level 175.
