Jade is the new Gold: Jade weapons come to Overwatch 2 as new competitive reward

In the early days of Overwatch, there wasn’t a status symbol quite like a shiny, gold weapon equipped on your favorite hero. But there’s a new class of weapons in town, and they’ll have you seeing green: Jade weapons.

Golden weapons previously stood out as markers of players who had dedicated their time to the Competitive Play modes. Yet these days, Overwatch and its sequel have been around for so long that Golden weapons no longer carry the same charm they once had. If you’ve been playing the game for long enough, you probably have several Golden weapons at this point.

Luckily for longtime players, Overwatch 2 will introduce a new class of competitive-reward weapons with season nine on Feb. 13 in Jade weapons.

Each Golden weapon unlock for any hero in Overwatch 2 costs 3,000 competitive credits, which are accumulated after many matches of Competitive Play. You’ll earn more points for wins and fewer points for draws and losses. Prior to the season nine changes, which will also re-balance competitive point earnings, the fastest way to have enough credits for a Golden weapon was to win 120 competitive matches—that’s a lot of competitive Overwatch 2.

But since the game has been out for nearly eight years, it’s pretty common for players to have at least one Golden weapon at this point. The incentive for playing competitive to kit out your hero with an exclusive weapon isn’t how it used to be—until now.

With season nine of Competitive Play, Overwatch 2 will now have you grinding for Jade weapons, and purchasing one on any character will add a green luster to their tools of the trade on any skin you wish. Jade weapons, like Golden weapons before them, will cost 3,000 competitive credits, but you won’t be able to use any of your existing competitive credits to unlock the Jade weapons.

Similar to how Overwatch coins were split into two versions—current and legacy—at the release of Overwatch 2, competitive credits will now be undergoing a similar change. Any competitive credits earned before the introduction of Jade weapons in season nine will now be converted into legacy competitive points.

In addition, at the end of 2024, all competitive credits earned from season nine until the end of the year will also be converted to legacy points.

Golden weapons can still be purchased using legacy competitive credits, so don’t worry if you had plans to buy one to match that sick skin. From season nine onwards, Golden weapons can only be purchased using these legacy credits, meaning if you still want a Golden weapon after season nine, you’ll have to wait for the end-of-year rollover to see your points turn into legacy ones.

OW2 season nine will start on Feb. 13.