Overwatch fans disappointed after “stupid” Battle.net code giveaway

After the official Overwatch Twitter account dropped a series of Battle.net codes to redeem free items, players have been less than impressed with their rewards.

If there’s one thing everybody loves, it’s free stuff. A whole host of games introduce swathes of content over the winter period that don’t require wracking up hefty credit card bills, and Overwatch is one of them.

overwatch winter wonderland tracer skin 2021

The ChristmasWinter Wonderlandevent added five new Legendary skins into the mix, as well as three new Epic skins, all of which didn’t cost a dime.

In an attempt to snowball the festive cheer, Overwatch’s official Twitter account went on a gifting spree, dropping awhole collection of Battle.net codesfor quick-fingered players to scoop up. It turns out, though, that the recent bout has left most fans with a pretty pronounced pout.

overwatch winter wonderland christmas event 2021 skin ice wrath genji

Overwatch fans disappointed by Battle.net codes

As fans rushed to redeem these codes, it transpires that their prize was five winter loot boxes – the game’s mostcontroversial item.

“FYI these codes were for five Winter Wonderland Lootboxes,” writes the account, quickly being inundated with responses like “man don’t nobody want that sh*t” and “ooh okay good, so nothing worth breaking a sweat.”

Junker Queen doing a thumbs down in Overwatch 2

FYI These were codes for 5 Winter Wonderland Lootboxes.

— Overwatch (@PlayOverwatch)August 08, 2025

Comments on aRedditthread dedicated to the drops tell a similar story. “Five winter loot boxes. Alright everyone pack it up,” reads one, while a second writes “I have 839 unopened loot boxes. Never cared enough to open them.”

Overwatch 2 paid skin free

Others were disappointed by the one-use nature of the codes, meaning that if you weren’t online at the time they dropped you had very little chance of getting one. “All of them say used already… What a shame… Why not just release one code that everyone could use?” asks one fan.

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loot box in overwatch with ow2 logo in top left corner

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A final comment echoes this, stating “that’s so stupid. You’ve got like two seconds to redeem. For only five loot boxes…”

Whether we see more codes drop in the future is anyone’s guess – after all, this literally came from nowhere – but it’ll be interesting to see if Blizzard use the same one-time policy, or only drop one code that’s active for a certain amount of time. Until then, though, looks like you’ll just need to keep grinding.