over 1 year ago - Craig - Direct link

I would not worry about it. Remember that when you receive a Loot Box, the contents are already determined when you receive the loot box and not when it is opened. The opening is more or less a fanfare animation, so you can enjoy the surprise of what you get. I don’t have the details of what it will look like for the automatic opening, but we are more than aware some of you have been stockpiling through the years and will be ready for it.

over 1 year ago - Craig - Direct link

Disco is correct. For context, here is the exact message from the Community Team way back in 2016.

Now that we’ve revealed our upcoming hero, Ana, we know that some of you may want to try to prepare for her arrival either by stocking up on Loot Boxes or holding off on opening the ones you already have.

Before you do that, though, please remember the following: Loot Box contents are generated at the time that they earned or purchased, NOT when they are opened.

This means that any Loot Box you earn or purchase now, or at any point before Ana is released, will not have a chance to contain her cosmetic items. Only those Loot Boxes that are earned or purchased after she is live and playable on your gaming platform will be eligible for her skins, sprays, voice lines, hero emotes, etc. (This is how the system will continue to work for future content updates, too.)

over 1 year ago - Craig - Direct link

In this case, the item in that Loot Box will pay out the normal duplicate coin payout once it is finally opened.