Loverwatch, the Overwatch dating simulator is real, here’s how to play

Genji or Mercy?

For the first time ever, Blizzard has introduced a new and interactive experience to the world of Overwatch in the form of Loverwatch – Love Never Dies. This strictly non-canonical dating simulator is completely safe for work, unlike many fan creations in the Overwatch universe, and allows the player to interact with either Genji or Mei on romantic occasions set in various recognizable Overwatch map locations.

As a reward for completing the game, exclusive titles and in-game cosmetics will be granted depending on which options you choose. Up for grabs are the Hanzo Cupid’s Kiss highlight introduction and cute titles which will automatically be applied to players’ accounts. There are plenty of hidden Easter eggs, inside jokes, and a secret ending to discover, and finding all of them won’t happen in just one playthrough.

Players can launch Loverwatch via the official website and it’s suitable for most major desktop web browsers but unfortunately won’t work on mobile or non-desktop, web-based browsers. Playing through the storyline and choosing the correct answers will result in being able to choose whether you’d like to be your chosen character’s friend or partner. Making bad selections will remove this option.

How to unlock the secret ending in Loverwatch

Play through the game twice and make it to the “good” ending by selecting favorable responses to Genji and Mercy’s questions and you’ll be able to begin a third new game, this time romancing Cupid Hanzo, who insists that he is not in fact Hanzo and stresses that this absolutely is not canon, and players should not go updating Overwatch wiki pages. Okay then.

Compared to Mercy and Genji, Hanzo’s dating storyline is short and sweet. There is one question response that changes the overall outcome, but achieving the good ending by telling him that he was your soulmate all along will also reward an additional Cupid’s Arrow icon in-game.

How to redeem Loverwatch rewards

After earning all potential in-game rewards, fans might be wondering how to get these added to their Overwatch 2 accounts. Unlocking the good endings for Mercy, Genji, and Hanzo will gift the maximum rewards including player icons, titles, and highlight introductions, and must be claimed on the Loverwatch official website before they can be used in Overwatch 2.

To claim the in-game rewards, select ‘rewards’ from the main menu, click the reward you want to claim, and then log in to your Battle.net account. Accept the permissions for sharing Battle.net account ID and BattleTag and choose ‘allow’. The in-game rewards will then appear in your Overwatch 2 account within 48 hours.

But why?!

Loverwatch wasn’t always a Blizzard project. Back in 2016, it was a fan project created by designer and writer Lucy Morris. It was originally intended to be released for free and remain around indefinitely, whilst the current iteration is only available until February 28. The project originally begin in the period between the Overwatch beta and full release and began with the player visiting HQ and choosing a job that would decide which of three relationship storylines to follow featuring Genji, Mei, or Bastion.

Morris had previously worked with the likes of Ubisoft as well as her own independent projects, and whilst the original iteration of Loverwatch had a fairly big following on the likes of Tumblr, it’s unclear whether the game ever made it through the development process as Morris stopped updating the Tumblr page in late 2017. Whilst the concept wasn’t a new one (there are many dating simulators for Overwatch perhaps unsurprisingly), this was the biggest at the time. It’s unclear whether the new Loverwatch is related to or inspired by this original, but fans can take a look for themselves on the official website until February 28, 2023.