As Overwatch's annual competitive season resets, a familiar challenge emerges: understanding the new competitive weapon variant acquisition system. This year, the highly sought-after Crimson Wolf, a striking Talon-red themed camouflage, has made its debut.

Details on Acquiring the Crimson Wolf Weapon Skin

The Crimson Wolf skin is the latest addition to the collection of competitive weapon camos, joining the ranks of Golden, Jade, and last year's Galactic variants. These cosmetics are universally applicable across all characters and their respective skins. To obtain the Crimson Wolf, players must accumulate Competitive Points, a distinct red currency. These points are primarily earned through participation in standard or Stadium competitive matches and by excelling in end-of-season Drives within the current competitive year. Given the yearly reset of this currency, all players, regardless of their experience level, commence with zero Competitive Points at the start of The Reign of Talon's Season 1: Conquest.

Acquiring the Crimson Wolf variant costs 3,000 Competitive Points per character. Players earn ten Competitive Points for each win and five for a draw in standard competitive matches, with Stadium wins granting 20 points. Additional points are awarded for progressing through the competitive modes. Players can monitor their current Competitive Point balance in the weapon variants menu, located in the top right corner.

It is crucial to differentiate these current Competitive Points from Legacy Competitive Points, which are white. Legacy points are only earned at the conclusion of a competitive year when the current season's Competitive Points are automatically converted. These Legacy points are exclusively used to unlock weapon variants from previous years, such as Galactic, Jade, and Golden.

The Crimson Wolf variant is scheduled for retirement in February 2027, at which point it will transition into the Legacy rewards pool alongside its predecessors, making way for a new weapon skin. Furthermore, an exclusive Doomfist character skin, also named Crimson Wolf (distinct from the weapon variant), can be unlocked by players who achieve Diamond rank between Season 1 and Season 3 of the current year.

The introduction of the Crimson Wolf weapon variant brings an exciting new goal for Overwatch players. The system, while initially complex with its dual currency and annual reset, offers a clear path for dedicated players to customize their in-game experience. The distinction between current and Legacy Competitive Points ensures that both new and veteran players have opportunities to earn the latest cosmetics while still being able to access past rewards. The upcoming retirement of the Crimson Wolf variant in 2027 emphasizes the evolving nature of the game's cosmetic offerings, encouraging engagement with each competitive season.