Overwatch Loot Boxes: Why Blizzard Stopped Selling Them
Belgium ruled paid Overwatch boxes gambling in 2018, Blizzard ended sales in 2022, and boxes came back in 2026 as earn-only anniversary rewards.
The deal
Overwatch loot boxes are no longer for sale. Blizzard stopped selling them after the Anniversary Remix Vol. 3 event in August 2022, swapped them for a cosmetics shop in Overwatch 2, and has only brought boxes back as free, earned event rewards since. The road there runs straight through a Belgian gambling ruling Blizzard openly disagreed with.
Round 1: The original deal: Overwatch ran on loot boxes
For the first game, boxes were not a side hustle. TechRadar put it bluntly: the first Overwatch's monetization rested solely on them.
Round 2: Belgium calls it gambling (2018)
In April 2018 Belgium's Gaming Commission looked at four games and found three breached gambling law, with Star Wars Battlefront 2 the exception after EA changed it. Overwatch was one of the three. The stakes were not symbolic: operators who kept the boxes risked up to five years in prison and a fine of up to 800,000 euros.
Blizzard's response, posted on its forums in August 2018, is the part most recaps skip. It said the Commission's report, endorsed by the Belgian Ministry of Justice, treated paid Overwatch boxes as gambling under local law. Blizzard said it was surprised, did not share that opinion, and complied anyway by blocking real-money and gem purchases of boxes in Belgium. Belgian players could still earn boxes by playing and kept access to all in-game content. So the fix was not "no boxes." It was "no buying boxes." Hold that thought, because it is the template for everything after.
Round 3: The Netherlands draws its own line
The Dutch Gaming Authority ran its own check the same year and found four of ten popular games breached the Dutch gambling law. Its test was different from Belgium's: the problem was the combination of tradability and chance, meaning randomized items that could be traded on. Publishers had until 20 June 2018 to adjust. Two regulators, two tests, one message to the industry: random paid rewards were now a legal risk in Europe.
Round 4: How Overwatch 2 killed the paid box (2022)
In June 2022 Blizzard told press Overwatch 2 would be ditching loot boxes for a cosmetics shop. The August 2022 patch notes made it official: loot boxes would no longer be sold after the Anniversary Remix Vol. 3 event. A Blizzard staff reply on 9 August 2022 said sales would stop on all platforms, while standard boxes stayed earnable until Overwatch 2 launched on October 4, 2022.
| Date | What happened | Who |
|---|---|---|
| April 2018 | Paid Overwatch boxes ruled gambling in Belgium | Belgian Gaming Commission |
| June 2018 | Four of ten games found in breach, deadline to adjust | Dutch Gaming Authority |
| August 2018 | Paid boxes disabled in Belgium, earning kept | Blizzard |
| June 2022 | Overwatch 2 to replace boxes with a shop | Blizzard |
| August 2022 | Box sales end after Anniversary Remix Vol. 3 | Blizzard |
| May 2026 | Earned-only anniversary boxes return | Blizzard |
Blizzard never said Belgium made it do this. But the shape of the change, selling cosmetics directly instead of selling a chance at them, is exactly what the Belgian ruling had already forced locally.
Round 5: Are there still loot boxes in Overwatch?
Yes, but you cannot buy them. As of the May 2026 update, loot boxes show up only as earned event rewards. For the 10th Anniversary event, every player got a 10 Year Anniversary Loot Box in Week 3 with 4 guaranteed Legendary skins. On top of that, players could earn all 15 Anniversary Loot Boxes by playing 60 games, with wins counting double.
So the comeback is the Belgian model made global: boxes you earn, never boxes you pay for. That keeps the nostalgia and drops the part regulators objected to.
Round 6: Loot boxes Overwatch Reddit threads keep asking about
The recurring questions, answered in order:
- "Can I still buy boxes?" No. Sales ended after the Anniversary Remix Vol. 3 event in 2022.
- "Did my boxes just vanish?" Standard boxes stayed earnable right up to the Overwatch 2 launch, per Blizzard's staff reply on the forums.
- "Why are boxes back then?" They returned as free anniversary rewards in 2026, earned through games rather than sold.
- "Was Overwatch banned in Belgium?" No. Only buying boxes was blocked; earning them and all content stayed available.
Round 7: The regulars ask
Why did Overwatch stop selling loot boxes?
Blizzard swapped them for a cosmetics shop in Overwatch 2, a plan it shared with press in June 2022. It came after Belgium's regulator had already ruled paid boxes were gambling, a call Blizzard said it disagreed with but obeyed.
Is it possible to buy loot boxes in Overwatch?
No. Sales ended on all platforms after the Anniversary Remix Vol. 3 event in 2022, and Overwatch 2 launched without a paid box. The only boxes since then have been earned through play, as of the May 2026 update.
Can you get free loot boxes in Overwatch?
Yes, during events. The 10th Anniversary event handed every player a 10 Year Anniversary Loot Box in Week 3 and let players earn 15 more by playing 60 games, with wins counting double.
What was the controversy around Overwatch loot boxes?
Paying real money for a random reward. Belgium's Gaming Commission concluded that was gambling under its law in 2018 and threatened operators with up to five years in prison and fines of up to 800,000 euros.
Round 8: Receipts
- Blizzard Entertainment (Overwatch Forums): Paid Loot Boxes and Loot Chests Disabled for Players in Belgium, 2018-08-27
- Blizzard Entertainment (Overwatch Forums): Wait... If lootboxes and more are going away August 30, 2022-08-09
- Blizzard Entertainment (Overwatch news): Reign of Talon - S2 Midcycle Continues the Climb, 2026-05-15
- PC Gamer: Belgium's Gambling Commission rules against loot boxes in Overwatch, FIFA 18, and CS:GO, 2018-04-25
- TechRadar: After Diablo Immortal, Overwatch 2 ditches lootboxes, 2022-06-16
- BijzonderStrafrecht.nl: Kansspelautoriteit: Nieuwe fase aanpak loot boxes, 2018-06-20
