Blizzard China Shares Overwatch Loot Box Probabilities

You never know exactly what you're going to get when you open one of Overwatch's Loot Boxes, but the latest information from Blizzard should make things a little bit more clear—if you live in China, at least.

In order to crack down on online gambling, Chinese authorities recently passed a law requiring digital game makers to disclose the draw probability of any in-app purchase that has a random element. This includes Overwatch's Loot Boxes, which can be earned via playing the game or purchased for extra money, and which dole out special cosmetic items like character skins, sprays, emotes, and lines of dialogue on a semi-random basis.

In complying with the new legislation, Blizzard released the following figures, which break down the Loot Box odds like this: every Overwatch Loot Box contains at least one rare, or blue, item. On average, players get an epic, or purple, item every 5.5 Loot Boxes, and a legendary, or orange, prize every 13.5 boxes.

Blizzard did not say whether these drop rates were universal or specific to the Chinese version of the game, but many critics seem to think it's likely that the rates hold true worldwide. Of course, general odds are just part of the story: character skins are generally more valuable to players than Overwatch's other items, and these figures don't take into account the possibility of opening a Loot Box full of items that you already own—which, as seasoned Overwatch players know, is incredibly annoying.

In addition to Overwatch, Blizzard also released the Loot Box odds (or equivalents) for its free-to-play MOBA Heroes of the Storm and the digital card game Hearthstone. According to Blizzard's figures, Heroes of the Storm awards one rare item per Loot Box, one epic item every 4.5 Loot Boxes, and one Legendary item every 17.5 Loot Boxes. Hearthstone packs are similar, with at least one rare card in every pack, an epic card in every five, and a legendary card in every 20. As in Overwatch, both types of blind-bag items can be acquired both by paying and by playing.

Overwatch is, of course, Blizzard's newest game, a character-based multiplayer shooter that's made about $1 billion in just about a year on the market. Annoying quirks like Loot Boxes aside, Overwatch deserves all its success, too—after all, 30 million players can't be wrong.