Why Are Cosmetics Missing in Overwatch 2?

Have you logged into Overwatch 2 only to find your cool skins, emotes, highlight intros and other cosmetics are gone? I know that can be super frustrating after spending so much time collecting your favorite looks.

Not to worry – this is a common technical issue after migrating to the new game. But the good news is that your items aren‘t actually gone for good! With some troubleshooting, you can get your missing cosmetics back.

As a long-time Overwatch player and gaming enthusiast, I‘ve researched this issue extensively. In this detailed guide, I‘ll walk you through exactly why skins are missing, how to fix it, and what to try if items still aren‘t showing up.

Before we dig into solutions, let‘s first get into the technical causes of why this happens.

Overloaded Account Merges

The main reason skins and cosmetics disappear is tied to the account merge process.

When you first launch Overwatch 2, it prompts you to link your Blizzard Account with your console account (PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo). This merges your cosmetic inventory, competitive rank, settings, and other progress.

However, Blizzard‘s systems are totally overloaded right now. Millions of players merging at once has caused massive delays in this process.

Blizzard themselves have confirmed that the player database can‘t handle the traffic. So even if you‘ve completed the merge, it can take days or even weeks for your Overwatch 1 cosmetics to fully sync over.

Buggy Partial Inventories

Some players have also reported what seems like partial inventory bugs. Certain skins and items transferred over, while others are randomly missing.

This relates to the account merge strain as well. With so many requests flooding their databases, inventory transfers are sporadic. Your items aren‘t gone, but the handoff is super inconsistent right now.

New Heroes and Battle Pass Resets

The new heroes – Sojourn, Junker Queen, and Kiriko – also start with empty cosmetics since they weren‘t in the original Overwatch.

And the first Overwatch 2 Battle Pass resets certain unlocks each season. So past limited-time seasonal cosmetics don‘t carry over either.

But anything you unlocked permanently in the original Overwatch should eventually transfer – it just may take some time and troubleshooting.

Alright, now that you know what‘s going on behind the scenes, here are the most effective troubleshooting steps to fix your missing cosmetics:

Double Check Your Account Merge

First things first, you need to make 100% sure you have completed the full account merge process. Do this:

1. Launch Overwatch 2 on your console and look for the merge prompt.

2. Use your phone to scan the QR code shown on your TV. This opens the account link page on Blizzard‘s site.

3. Log into your Battle.net account or create a new free one if you need to.

4. Input the code from your console and click Link Account to confirm.

5. Finalize the merge at your next Overwatch 2 login.

Once done, give it at least 24 hours for your inventory to transfer over. Be patient and stick to your merged account.

Open Any Unopened Loot Boxes

This is an easy one to miss – any unopened loot boxes in the original Overwatch will NOT carry over.

Before assuming items are gone, check your existing loot box inventory:

1. Boot up Overwatch 1 if you still have it installed.

2. Under Career Profile, go to Loot Boxes and open up any you have unopened.

3. Make sure you don‘t have any new unlock notifications on the main menu.

4. Close Overwatch 1 and restart Overwatch 2. Newly unlocked items should appear.

This guarantees no cosmetics are stuck in unopened loot box limbo.

Contact Blizzard Support

If you‘ve merged accounts and opened all loot boxes, but items are still missing after 1-2 weeks, reach out to Blizzard support:

1. Go to https://us.battle.net/support/en/games/overwatch

2. Click Contact Support in the bottom right.

3. Choose Overwatch 2 as the game.

4. Select Technical Support then your platform.

5. Pick Missing Items as the issue and fill out the form to submit a ticket.

Give them your BattleTag, affected items, troubleshooting steps tried, etc. Their team can investigate and restore anything lost during the transition.

Wait Patiently for Upcoming Fixes

Blizzard has acknowledged the merger issues and stated fixes are coming within weeks. As they optimize the process and release patches, these cosmetics problems should improve.

I‘d advise checking Blizzard‘s forums and Overwatch social channels for updates. And relaunching the game periodically may trigger another sync attempt. But otherwise, hang tight for their fixes!

Hopefully the steps above get your skins and cosmetics back where they belong. But if you still see issues after a month or more, here are a few final things to check:

• Make sure missing items aren‘t seasonal cosmetics from limited-time events – these do not transfer over.

• For golden weapons, check your Competitive Points balance. You can re-unlock any weapons.

• Ensure missing cosmetics aren‘t tied only to special editions like Origins or Legendary. Those had exclusive bonuses.

• Try fully reinstalling Overwatch 2 to force a fresh inventory sync. Make sure cloud saves are enabled if prompted.

• Verify you didn‘t overlook anything in your web loot box history on Blizzard‘s site.

• As a last resort, keep contacting Blizzard support. Politely re-explain missing inventory in new tickets if needed.

In rare cases, inventory could get corrupted in the merge. But their team can still manually adjust your account to restore missing items. So persist with them if items stubbornly refuse to transfer.

I totally understand the frustration of booting up Overwatch 2 for the first time only to see your carefully crafted cosmetics collection gone. Believe me, I experienced it myself!

But thankfully, this is just a temporary technical speed bump, not a permanent loss. Blizzard is working overtime to optimize the account merge process. And with some patience from us players, our missing skins, emotes, intros, and voice lines will reappear.

My advice is to complete the account merge if you haven‘t yet, keep trying periodic restarts, and open a support ticket if items stay MIA after a few weeks. With some diligence, you‘ll get your sweet cosmetics back in action. Don‘t stress, we‘ll get through this together!

Let me know in the comments if you have any other questions. And stay tuned for more in-depth gaming guides and news here on the blog!