‘Overwatch’ Monetization Will Include Purchasable Loot Boxes, Says Assistant Director

We’re less than 24 hours away from the debut of Overwatch, the new team-based first-person shooter from Blizzard Entertainment, and many fans are still wondering how exactly the studio plans to pay for the ongoing support it has pledged for Overwatch post-launch. Blizzard has promised to release new heroes, maps and skins, without charging for any of it. But Overwatch assistant game director Aaron Keller says the studio has already identified a potential revenue stream to fund ongoing development: loot boxes.

Blizzard already confirmed it’s not interested in selling the sort of content most people would expect to see for a modern shooter. The studio has plans for a variety of post-launch content, from new maps to new heroes, but don’t expect to see an Overwatch Season Pass on PSN, Battle.net or Xbox Live in the near future. Despite sharing a parent company with the Call of Duty franchise, we won’t see new map packs for the shooter every few months. In fact, it sounds like Blizzard still isn’t sure how it plans to release new content for Overwatch.

“We haven’t really finalized the way we’re going to release content for the game,” Keller told iDigitalTimes. “We don’t want to charge for [new content]. We’re just not sure what the best way to release some of that stuff is going to be.”

Rather than charging for maps and characters, Keller says Blizzard will take a slightly different approach to monetization. Like many hero-focused games, Overwatch lets players unlock a variety of cosmetic items, from new taunts and victory animations to unique skins, for each hero on the game’s roster. The items are unlocked via loot boxes, bestowed on the player each time they gain enough experience to level up. But players will probably have another means (cash) of acquiring extra loot boxes soon after Overwatch heads to PC and consoles.

“When we initially put [the feature] in, we didn’t really know if we were going to sell loot boxes,” Keller said. “But it became apparent, mostly from people on the team. Just based on all of us saying, ‘I really want to buy loot boxes.’”

The studio hasn’t nailed down a final price for the extra loot boxes yet, or at least not one they shared with us; however, Keller did offer a few extra details on the system he expects to see implemented at/after launch. Those unwilling to spend cash on extra loot boxes will be happy to know they won’t have to worry about feeling left out in the cold. Even if/when Blizzard begins selling loot boxes to the Overwatch community, Keller says those extra boxes will pull items from the exact same loot table as the boxes being handed out as rewards. And drop rates for purchased loot boxes won’t be any different than the drop rates for free ones.

Overwatch is in development for PS4, Xbox One and PC. The game debuts May 24.

Be sure to check back with iDigitalTimes.com for more Overwatch coverage throughout 2016 and for however long Blizzard supports Overwatch in the months following launch.