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Overwatch 2 double XP and free skins coming after troubled launch

Overwatch 2 has had a bit of a rocky launch and Blizzard is making it up to players with a free Reaper skin and “several” double match XP weekends in the future

Overwatch 2 free Reaper skin double XP weekend announcement: an image of pirate Reaper with an octopus backpack

Whether you’re wondering how to get golden guns in Overwatch 2, or trying to work out your best Overwatch 2 crosshair settings, it’s safe to say that the relaunch of Blizzard’s hero shooter has been troubled. Overwatch 2 has failed to fix Hanzo’s horrendous arrow hitbox issues and Overwatch 2 players really don’t like the shooter’s main menu. Oh, and the game’s servers have been struggling quite a bit. You’ll be pleased to know, though, that in an effort to compensate fans for the game’s instability, Blizzard is offering a free Overwatch 2 skin for Reaper, planning several double match XP weekends, and a free Health Pack weapon charm.

Yeah, that’s right. If you’re a Reaper main, all that queueing and all those random server disconnects were worthwhile. From October 25, you’re going to be able to pick up the Cursed Captain legendary Reaper skin for free – something that would have cost you your fair share of Overwatch 2 credits.

If you’re not a Reaper main, you’ll still be able to pick up the skin. However, you’ll also get a cute little Health Pack weapon charm – which you should be able to use on all the new Overwatch 2 heroes in-game.

Blizzard has not confirmed when the first double match XP weekend is going to take place, but we would hazard a guess that it arrives on October 28 or October 29 – the weekend after the free Reaper skin is awarded.

Announcing these compensations in a blog post, Blizzard has stated that it is “committed to consistently investigating issues as they arise, working quickly towards fixes, and being transparent with [the Overwatch 2] community on the status of [the game]” – hence the blog post, we suppose.

Overwatch 2 free Reaper skin double Xp weekend announcement: an image of the free Health Pack charm on Mercy's Caedecus Staff

Adding to this, Blizzard has confirmed that another title update is on the way “for later this week” while it continues to monitor the game closely “for emergent issues and bugs”. We don’t know when this next update will drop, but we’re expecting it to arrive ahead of the weekend.

So, while you wait for the next update and your free skin, why not check out our Overwatch 2 tier list or read up on how to earn Battle Pass XP fast in Overwatch 2? There are quite a few rewards worth unlocking there, but it can be a bit of a grind.