How to get the Overwatch 2 Winston legendary Halloween skin for free

Werewolf Winston eating popcorn
(Image credit: Blizzard Entertainment)

Blizzard has finally kicked spooky season into full gear as it prepares to launch the Overwatch 2 Halloween terror event. This is the first time we'll see the Halloween specials like the Junkenstien co-op map in Overwatch 2, alongside other spooky skins and prizes. 

However, unlike previous years, this time you’ll have to pay for the event skins. That is for all of them except two. The first one is a Legendary Reaper skin. This time, the fallen soldier dorns a pirate outfit that looks like it’s straight from Davy Jones Locker. You can get this by simply logging into Overwatch 2 during the event.

The Legendary Winston skin is a bit harder to get your hands on. We’ve decided to give you a treat, not a trick, by spelling out how you get your hands on this legendary werewolf skin for free on Xbox Series X|S, PS5, Nintendo Switch, and PC. 

You will be able to play the Halloween terror event on October 25, 2022, at 1pm ET / 10am PT / 6PM BST / Wednesday 4am AEDT.

How to get the Overwatch 2 Winston legendary Halloween skin for free 

To claim Winston’s legendary Halloween skin, you’ll need a Twitch account that’s linked to your Battle.net account. If you don’t have an account already, head to Twitch.tv and click the signup button in the top-right of the screen.

You need to make sure your Twitch account is linked to your Battle.net account; otherwise, it will all be for nothing: 

  •  Log into your battle.net account. 
  •  Go to your Battle.net Connections page.  
  •  Click Connect next to Twitch and follow the instructions. 

In order to secure the Winston werewolf spray, you will need to watch 2 hours of Overwatch 2 Twitch streams. While for the Legendary Winston werewolf skin, you will need to sink in six hours of watch time into the streams. 

Luckily, the Twitch drop applies to all channels streaming under the Overwatch 2 category, so you will have plenty to choose from.

A pirate themed Reaper skin

(Image credit: Blizzard Entertainment)

You don’t need to be actively watching the streams either, just have a feed going in the background and you’ll unlock the skin after six hours.

You have from the launch of the Halloween event on October 25 to November 1 at 2pm ET / 11am PT / 7pm BST / Wednesday 5am AEDT to clock up your six hours of view time.

Don’t get caught by these tricks 

However, there are also some things to be careful of when setting up your Battle.net connection and watching the Twitch streams:

If you have changed your password since the last Twitch campaign, you must complete the logging-in steps again to participate in this and future Twitch drops.

Some browser plug-ins prevent Twitch from recording your presence during a stream. The best way to get around this is by temporarily disabling your plug-ins, as Blizzard and Twitch can’t provide support for issues caused by incompatible plug-ins. 

If you want to switch Twitch accounts, be aware that you cannot connect another Twitch account to your Battle.net account until seven days have passed since disconnecting from the first. 

If you make sure to follow all of these steps, then you should be able to have a terrific Halloween event. Just try not to spend too much money on the other skins. 

Elie Gould
Features Writer

Elie is a Features Writer for TechRadar Gaming, here to write about anything new or slightly weird. Before writing for TRG, Elie studied for a Masters at Cardiff University JOMEC in International Journalism and Documentaries – spending their free time filming short docs or editing the gaming section for their student publications. 

Elie’s first step into gaming was through Pokémon but they've taken the natural next step in the horror genre. Any and every game that would keep you up at night is on their list to play - despite the fact that one of Elie’s biggest fears is being chased.