Overwatch's Season 3 Competitive Drives run through August 10

Overwatch's Season 3 Competitive Drives are live and close at the end of August 10, according to Esports.gg. The limited-time event began on August 6 and runs inside the game's existing ranked modes rather than as a separate playlist.

Players accumulate a Drive Score by playing ranked matches, and pass reward checkpoints as that score climbs. The payouts alternate between Competitive Points, which are spent on weapon variants, and Drive Signatures, cosmetic borders that sit around a player's in-game name.

The checkpoints

• 500 Drive Score: 500 Competitive Points
• 1,000 Drive Score: Drive Signature
• 1,600 Drive Score: 1,000 Competitive Points
• 2,200 Drive Score: Advanced Drive Signature
• 3,000 Drive Score: 1,500 Competitive Points
• 4,000 Drive Score: Elite Drive Signature

A seventh checkpoint beyond that list awards special insignias, which add diamond-shaped elements to the left of an earned Drive Signature.

How the score moves

Winning is the fastest route. A win in Role Queue or Open Queue is worth 210 points, and playing in a group adds a 50-point bonus on top of any victory. Losses subtract up to 63 points, so a poor run can erode progress rather than simply stall it.

Ranked Stadium matches move the number faster in both directions. A win there is worth 265 points, while a loss can cost up to 80. The mode is the quicker path for players confident of a positive win rate and the more expensive one for anyone who is not.

The scoring rates set a floor on how much play the top reward takes. At 210 points a win, reaching the 4,000-point Elite Drive Signature needs at least 20 clean wins in Role or Open Queue; the 50-point group bonus cuts that to 16, and ranked Stadium's 265 points a win to 16 as well. Any losses in the run push those totals higher, since a defeat can take back up to 63 points in queue and up to 80 in Stadium.

The event lands between hero releases. Blizzard has already shown D.Mon, the game's next hero, in a gameplay trailer, and the character becomes playable in Season 4 — after the current Drives have closed.