Blizzard Warns Overwatch Players About Hoarding Lootboxes

You might've seen the recently announced changes to Overwatch that will look to improve the current loot box system in the game, and you might be thinking it's a good time to hang onto your loot boxes until the update hits so you can reap the benefits of the changes. Blizzard wants players to know that's not the best idea though, and they're advising against hoarding your loot boxes.

The new changes to the loot system that are currently being tested in the PTR will reduce the amount of duplicates players receive from the boxes, so players are waiting to cash in on their loot after the changes are finalized.

"We recently announced that major improvements are on the way for in-game loot boxes and have made those updates available for testing with our latest PTR patch (1.13.0)," an official update on the Overwatch forums read. "Since that announcement, we've seen several of you noting that you'll be stocking up on loot boxes (or holding off on opening the ones you already have) in preparation for this update going live. Before you do that, we ask that you please keep the following functionality in mind: Loot Box contents are generated at the time that they earned or purchased, NOT when they are opened."

To clarify that initial statement and urge players once again to not hold onto their loot boxes, the post went on to reaffirm that only loot boxes that are purchased after the Patch 1.13 is released will be affected by the changes, so it's best to go ahead and open them now.

The proposed changes to the loot boxes will reduce the duplicates, but some players were concerned that less duplicates would mean less credits since each duplicate is instead converted into credits to purchase other cosmetics, another issue that has already been addressed with the changes.

"Second, to compensate for this reduction of duplicate items, we're also increasing the overall amount of credits players will receive from loot boxes," the update's description reads. "On average, players should be earning just as many credits, if not slightly more, from loot boxes than they did prior to these changes"

There's no word at this time when the patch will be released, but news of a release date is expected to come soon.