Overwatch League drops and how to get free skins

Watch matches to earn Overwatch League rewards.

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Overwatch League dropsare a big part of the arena shooter’s competitive tournament, letting viewers earn special Home & Away skins for everyheroby watching official matches, as well as player-designed namecards, and some cosmetic sprays. While theOverwatch 2 Twitch Dropsseemed a little stingy, there are a lot more free skins on offer this time around.

I say “free”, but you’re actually going to be paying for them with your time rather than with money, though you can always have the stream open in another tab while you’re doing something else. You also don’t have to watch consistently to earn the rewards, so you can view a little at a time to reach the necessary amount.

In this guide, I’ll explain how to set up Overwatch League drops so you can watch on YouTube, and what rewards you can earn based on how long you spend watching. It’s worth noting that even if you missed previous matches, there will be replays the following day.

How to set up Overwatch League drops

If you want to earn tokens and cosmetics by watching league matches, you’ll need to link your Battle.net account with your YouTube account. However, this isn’t done through the connections page in your Battle.net account. Here’s how to link them:

Once you’re all hooked up, you can watch matches on the officialOverwatch League YouTube channel. Alternatively, you can also log into your Blizzard account on theOverwatch League websiteto watch matches there and earn rewards.

The remaining playoffs and the Grand Finals all take place betweenOctober 30 - November 4. Here’s theschedulefor when they take place.

Overwatch League skins: How to get them

You can earn Overwatch League Home & Away skins for every hero by watching official matches, withthree skins rewarded for every three hours you watchalong with some additional cosmetics. You’ll also receive five League Tokens per hour, which can be redeemed for further skins in thestoreif you get enough of them.

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Here’s the breakdown of the rewards you get for each viewing bracket:

There are also specific rewards for the Grand Finals if you just want skins for the new characters, Junker Queen, Kiriko, and Sojourn.You can get these by watching two hours of the Grand Finals. All rewards will need to be redeemed before31 December,2022.

Sean’s first PC games were Full Throttle and Total Annihilation and his taste has stayed much the same since. When not scouring games for secrets or bashing his head against puzzles, you’ll find him revisiting old Total War campaigns, agonizing over his Destiny 2 fit, or still trying to finish the Horus Heresy. Sean has also written for EDGE, Eurogamer, PCGamesN, Wireframe, EGMNOW, and Inverse.

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