Weapon Variants are cosmetics that have existed since the initial release of Overwatch 2. They can be equipped through the Hero Gallery under Weapon Variants.

Details

They're used to customize a hero's weapon, giving it a different aesthetic color/texture from the base weapon, such as turning it golden. They are visible regardless of the hero skin or weapon skin equipped, though what aspects of the weapon are affected can change based on the equipped skin. Weapon variants affect all weapons the hero has, meaning heroes such as Kiriko or Mercy who wield multiple weapons, will have the variant applied on all of them.

Each of the 52 heroes in the game have every weapon variant available for purchase, but each weapon variant must be purchased individually for each hero. So purchasing a Golden variant for a certain hero, will not unlock it for another.

Obtaining

In Overwatch, weapon variants can be purchased in the hero gallery through using Competitive Points or Legacy Competitive Points. They can cost either 3000 or 3000 , depending on the variant. Weapon variants from previous competitive years can be unlocked with either of the currencies, but not a mix of both. The weapon variant of the current competitive year can only be unlocked with Competitive Points, but will then be purchasable with Legacy Competitive Points after the next competitive year's weapon variant is released.

History of Weapon Variants

Overwatch (2016)

From the full release of Overwatch on 24 May 2016 till its closure on 3 October 2022, the only weapon variant ever available was the Golden weapon. In the hero gallery, golden weapons could be purchased and equipped under the Weapons tab, costing 3000 each.

Overwatch

Up until Season 9, the only weapon variant available were Golden weapons, same as with Overwatch 1. However, from Season 9 they started releasing new weapon variants each competitive year, with the first being Jade Weapons. From then, it was set that weapon vaiants from previous competitive years would be sold using Legacy Competitive Points, however this was later changed so they could also be bought using regular Competitive Points.^[1] Jade Weapons were originally planned to be made unavailable after Season 14, however due to community feedback this decision was changed.^[2]

Overwatch 2

List of Weapon Variants

Availability	Variant Name	Description	Example (Tracer's Overwatch 2 Weapon)
All seasons	Golden	Changes the weapon to make it golden.
Season 9 - Season 14 ( ) Season 15+ ( )	Jade	Changes the weapon to a light green metal.
Season 15 - Season 20 ( ) Reign of Talon+ ( )	Galactic	Changes the weapon to a dark purple with animated stars.
Reign of Talon (Year of 2026) ( )	Crimson Wolf	Changes the weapon to a shimmering dark crimson, with the talon logo spotted throughout.

Trivia

• Soulive is known as the first player to own a Golden Weapon. He purchased the skin for Soldier:76 in July 2016.^[3]
• Up until Season 9, Overwatch 2 and its prequel Overwatch had only 1 option for weapon variants, Golden weapons, found under the Weapons tab. This changed during Season 8 in which Weapon Skins were introduced, leading to a new Weapon Skins tab for them and separate Weapon Variants tab for Weapon Variants.
• At the start of each competitive year, a skin is released as a competitive reward for achieving a rank of Diamond+ during the previous competitive year. The skin released features the same aesthetic look as the new weapon variant for the new year, with the first ever being Freja's Galactic skin.

References

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