Overwatch reveals drop rates for loot box items and skins

Overwatch has finally revealed the official drop rates for loot box items such as skins and sprays within the in-game client.

Players logging in can now check out the exact rates for standard loot box items in a special page in the home screen menu. The page provides a lot of details for those trying to complete their cosmetic collections.

Some of the information is already pretty standard, with each loot box containing either four items or three items with credits. However, each loot box includes at least one item of rare or higher quality.

The description goes on to further state that, on average, an epic quality item will be found in one out of every 5.5 loot boxes and legendary items found in every 13.5.

Furthermore, they list common items as having a 99% drop rate, rare at 94%, epic with 18.5% and legendary a mere 7.5%.

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These rates only apply for standard loot boxes, however, and not seasonal loot boxes such as the upcoming Winter Wonderland, Archive or Anniversary events.

Amusingly, the page also states that items obtained through loot boxes will not give any additional advantage while playing the game.

While, for the most part this is true, some players have discovered some slight advantages of using, for example, barefoot D.Va or Pharah skins to mask their footsteps.

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That said, aside from these rather niche instances, Overwatch has been good at completely avoiding pay-to-win components that have plagued other games.

Loot boxes have long been under fire from both politicians and players who view the practice as a form of gambling.

In 2017, China forced Blizzard to reveal the exact drop rates for games such as Overwatch and Hearthstone.

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Elsewhere, in the United States, Republican Senator Josh Hawley proposed the “Protecting Children from Abusive Games Act” which took aim at loot boxes and other pay-to-win practices.

However, to combat this, several companies including Activision Blizzard agreed to disclose drop rates for their titles.

At least now Overwatch players can sleep easy knowing exactly what their odds are for unlocking certain skins.