Overwatch 2’s Currency System Is A Convoluted Mess
Coins are one of six currencies in Overwatch 2.
Season 10 of Overwatch 2 started this week and it brought in a major change to how players earn Mythic skins, the customizable looks that Blizzard adds at a rate of one per season.
Rather than have to complete the Premium Battle Pass to earn a given season’s skin, players can now earn (or buy) a new currency called Mythic Prisms and then use those to snag the Mythic skins of their choice.
Broadly speaking, Blizzard giving players more agency over which Mythics they want to unlock is a positive move. Believe it or not, there are some folks who aren’t Mercy players, so some people won’t care about the latest Mythic.
As such, they can go back and unlock or upgrade a Mythic from a previous season, or hang onto their Prisms for the future. This new system is also handy for newer players who might have missed out on those sick Genji, Kiriko and Ana Mythics from earlier seasons.
However, the addition of Prisms now means that Overwatch 2 has six currencies for players to juggle.
Here’s how they all break down:
- Overwatch Credits. This is the legacy currency from the original Overwatch. It’s used to buy cosmetics carried over from that game via the Hero Gallery. You can use them to purchase select items from the Shop (I just bought an Illari voice line that way).
- Overwatch Coins. The main, premium currency. Used to buy the Premium Battle Pass, items from the Shop and cosmetics in the Hero Gallery.
- Overwatch League Tokens. No longer earnable for free, but still purchasable with real money. Used to buy Overwatch League skins. Also used to unlock special cosmetics tied to OWL events and Grand Finals Champions (though none of those are available right now).
- Legacy Competitive Points (CP). Used to buy Golden Guns/Weapons. Not purchasable. Can only be earned through Competitive modes.
- CP. Used to unlock Golden Guns/Weapons, or a yearly competitive season’s weapon skins (Jade skins during 2024). Not purchasable. Can only be earned through Competitive modes.
- Mythic Shards. Earnable through the Premium Battle Pass or purchasable.
On top of all of that, there have been events where Blizzard has tossed another currency into the mix. During the Winter Wonderland event, players earned Winter Fair Tickets that they could put toward cosmetic rewards of their choosing.
There are also certain items that are only purchasable with real money, such as the Ultimate Battle Pass bundle and Invasion Bundle, the latter of which grants access to the PvE Story Missions (remember those?).
Players have little say over how to convert one currency into another. At the end of an annual competitive season, unused CP will be converted into Legacy CP. These can be used to buy Golden Guns or competitive weapon skins from previous years. Unused Winter Fair Tickets were turned into Credits.
Having so many currencies to deal with can make things complicated for some players. Each has a reason for existing, but that doesn’t mean they’re free from confusion. I like to think I’m fairly on top of things and even I have once or twice nearly accidentally used Coins instead of Credits to buy an item.
The current system can make it hard for players to keep track of what they’re spending, especially if they buy a few different currencies with real money.
I’m aware this isn’t a problem that’s exclusive to Overwatch 2. If I recall correctly, Destiny 2 has a bunch of currencies. But whenever I dip into Fortnite, it’s almost a relief to see just V-bucks, though there’s an occasional temporary currency during events.
I don’t know how Blizzard makes the Overwatch 2 economy easier for players to understand. But right now it’s a mess.
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