When Overwatch 2 launched and replaced the game's loot box system with a Battle Pass and an in-game shop, it introduced Overwatch Coins. These have phased out traditional Overwatch Credits, and are the primary currency you'll need to use in order to purchase Premium Battle Pass reward tracks, skins, and other cosmetics from the shop and the Hero Gallery.
While it's possible to purchase Overwatch Coins with real money, many players would prefer to earn them by playing instead. In this guide, we'll go over how you can get Overwatch Coins for free through gameplay, including what you have to do and how often you'll generally need to play.
How to get Overwatch Coins for free in Overwatch 2
If you want to get Overwatch Coins without spending money in Overwatch 2, the only way to do so is by completing the weekly challenges that you get each week. In addition to giving you 5,000 XP per challenge completed — an amount that will help you level up the Overwatch 2 Battle Pass quite a bit — you'll also get a small amount of Overwatch Coins each time you complete a few of them.
60 Overwatch Coins are available to earn each week in total, split across three separate drops. The first drop only requires you to complete four weekly challenges and gives you 30 Overwatch Coins, the second drop requires eight and gives 20, and the final one requires completing all 11 of your weekly challenges and provides you with 10. This means that the majority of the available currency is easier to obtain, though you'll have to put in a fair amount of time and effort if you want to get all 60 weekly Overwatch Coins.
Overwatch 2 weekly challenges typically ask you to accomplish simple tasks like winning 20 games of Unranked or Competitive play, completing some matches with characters you don't normally play, and dealing, healing, or mitigating a certain amount of damage. On average, you can expect to have to play about 40-50 matches a week to finish every single challenge, though you might have to play more or less depending on the challenges you get and how often you win games.
Overwatch 2: How to complete challenges fast
To minimize the amount of time you have to spend trying to complete your challenges in Overwatch 2, you should try and complete several of them at once. For example, if you have a challenge that requires you to win 20 games total and one that asks you to win 10 games while queued as All Roles, you'll be able to progress both at the same time when playing All Roles.
Since many challenges involve winning a certain number of games, grouping up with friends is a great way to finish challenges faster as well. Teamwork and communication win games in Overwatch 2, and you're much more likely to have good teamwork and communication if you're playing with people you know and like to hang out with. Grouping up gives you a nice 20% XP boost, too, which is always a plus.
Overwatch 2 is available now on Xbox Series X|S, PS5, PS4, PC, and Nintendo Switch. It's arguably one of the best Xbox shooters available, and since it's free-to-play, it doesn't cost anything to check it out. Alternatively, players can purchase the Overwatch 2: Watchpoint Pack that provides access to Season 1's Premium Battle Pass, 2,000 Overwatch Coins, and a bundle of unique Legendary skins.
