Double XP events are staples for multiplayer shooters that have some sort of leveling system, such as "Call of Duty." Oddly, it's taken a year for "Overwatch" to receive its first such event and it will arrive this weekend for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.

Double XP details

The first "Overwatch" double XP starts this Thursday, June 8 at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT. This will be a four-day event which will end Tuesday, June 13 at 2:59 a.m. (aka Monday, June 12 at 11:59 p.m. PT).

Blizzard provides XP in "Overwatch" through multiple avenues beyond just winning or completing a match.

There's also time spent in matches, completing consecutive matches, and earning medals during matches. "Overwatch" also provides XP bonuses when players stick in the same group from match to match. All of these will receive the double XP bonus during the event.

The only XP source to not be eligible for double XP is the "First Win of the Day" bonus. Blizzard will lock this to 1500 XP through the weekend.

Bring the 'Overwatch' anniversary event to a close

The double XP weekend also marks another milestone in "Overwatch" as the first year anniversary event will end at the same time.

Blizzard started the celebration all the way back on May 23 with a large assortment of skins, emotes, and other cosmetic items from the always controversial loot boxes. Additionally, three new Arena maps were added set in the Dorado, Eichenwalde, and Temple of Anubis locations.

"It's been an incredible year, and we're so thankful you were a part of it," Blizzard said in the double XP event announcement.

"Thank you so much for your support, passion, feedback, and enthusiasm. We hope to see you in-game this weekend and wish you many awesome adventures in the year to come!."

The end of the anniversary event will also mark the start of future updates to "Overwatch." The Horizon Colony Lunar map was recently introduced to the Public Test Region (PTR) servers.

Winston's old home provides some hijinks with outside areas sporting low gravity and an alternate game mode that enables low gravity throughout the map.

A new round of gameplay balancing is also being tested out on the PTR servers with Roadhog's head shrinking along with the power of his hook and shot combo. Blizzard also altered Reaper's ultimate ability from dropping orbs that increase his health when enemies are killed to a vampiric life drain mechanism when doing damage to other players.

Blizzard has not announced a date for when "Overwatch" will receive these changes, but it is likely right around the corner from the end of the anniversary event.
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