An Overwatch 2 player found themselves almost 2000 coins in debt after purchasing a Hammond cosmetic bundle shortly after the game came out last week. Since the launch of Overwatch 2 and the new shop system that came with it, players have provided feedback for an ongoing stream of bugs and issues related to server problems and unlocked items being unavailable, but players experiencing a debt in Overwatch Coins is an especially unusual error.
The new Shop in Overwatch 2 is among a long list of changes and new features not seen in the game's predecessor. With the introduction of Overwatch Coins, the game's new virtual currency attainable from completing challenges and via microtransactions, players are able to directly purchase a range of skins, emotes, highlight intros and more. This new system is in opposition to the Loot Box system seen in the original Overwatch, which is no longer used in Overwatch 2. The shop also allows players to peruse and buy a variety of cosmetic bundles, offering a stock that resets every Tuesday.
A post from the user AmbersNotHere on Reddit explains that they were put into a negative quantity of Overwatch Coins upon accidentally purchasing a bundle for Hammond, one of the Tank Heroes in Overwatch 2. The post shows an amount of -1959 coins - a quantity worth almost $20, nearly as much as a complete Legendary bundle would cost. Achieving a negative balance in Overwatch Coins has been as puzzling for the unfortunate user as it has been for the rest of the community, as players shouldn't be capable of making a purchase if they don't have enough Coins.
Although it isn't clear how the author of the post accidentally purchased the bundle, several users speculate that it happened due to a bug causing interaction with the game chat to be interpreted by the game as menu input. Despite the unusual situation, users didn't hesitate to make jokes in the comments, with one user teasing that Blizzard would be coming to their house to collect.
With there being very few other cases of users falling into a negative balance of coins, it's difficult to understand what caused it to happen in the first place. Some players suggest that certain bundles accidentally continue to charge full-price when a player already own one or more pieces of the bundle's contents, leading to other bugs in turn. Whatever the case, the incident hasn't done anything to boost the confidence of players opposed to the new shop and season pass mechanics. Many players feel that the prices for cosmetics are too demanding, despite Overwatch 2's status as a free-to-play game. Other players simply see the humor in the situation instead, but it's safe to say that the community as a whole continue to wait for Blizzard to patch out these issues over the coming months.
Overwatch 2 is now available on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S.