Overwatch 2’s first double XP weekend starts tomorrow but it may not help as much as you hope

Overwatch 2 got off to a rough start when it launched on October 4, and so to make up for it Blizzard promised to hold “several” double XP weekends. Dates weren’t announced at the time, but today Blizzard revealed that the first double match XP weekend starts tomorrow.

The first double match XP weekend will begin at 11 am PT/2 pm ET on October 21 and run until the same time on October 24. The second weekend will follow a week later, beginning on October 28 and running until October 31, while the third will kick off on November 24 and go until November 28—all of them beginning and ending at the same, time, 11 am PT/2 pm ET.

Does three double XP weekends count as “several?” I envisioned it as implying more, maybe four or five, but the nice thing about using the word “several” is that it really doesn’t lock you down to anything: Dictionary.com defines it as meaning “more than two but fewer than many,” which of course compels us to define “many,” meaning “constituting or forming a large number; numerous.” In other words, “several” means “more than two” and that’s what we’ve got here, so I guess Blizzard has officially delivered.

Nonetheless, reaction to the date announcement on Reddit was not overly positive. Several users complained that it was a very low effort at recompense on Blizzard’s part; others pointed out that only match XP is being doubled, while daily and weekly challenges (the stuff that gives you by far the most battle pass XP) will continue to deliver the regular amount. 

“Daily and weekly [challenge] XP levels you up literally 10x faster than match XP,” g0atmeal wrote. “So unless you grind for hours in one sitting, this won’t make much of a difference.”

Blizzard also announced today that Halloween Terror will return to Overwatch beginning on October 25. Details on that weren’t announced, but previous Halloween Terror events included new cosmetics, weekly icon, spray, and skin rewards, and the Junkenstein’s Revenge co-op horde mode.