A lot of people in-game, friends and users here have asked about the level system.
I did some research and wanted to share the information I found and should be up to date as of now.

Exactly how many points you receive is determined by a number of factors:
whether you won or lost the match in question,
any particular merits you received for your individual performance, and so on.
Note that there are no currently known limits on how high you can raise your player level in Overwatch.

Here's the latest info on how XP is calculated in the game.

• You receive 4.01 XP for each second you are active in a match.
  
• You will receive a bonus XP reward based on your highest medal earned. A Gold Medal is worth 150 XP, Silver is worth 100XP, and Bronze Medals only net you 50 XP. Medal rewards do not stack!
  
• 250 XP is rewarded if you stuck around until the very end of a match, win or lose.
  
• Finally, you get a bonus 500 XP if you win the match in question.

How much XP do you need to get your greedy hands on a new Loot Box to open though? Here's the latest breakdown on the XP threshholds for levelling up in Overwatch.

XP Needed per Level

Current Level ----------------- XP Needed for Next Level
Level 1----------------------------2000 XP
Level 2----------------------------3500 XP
Level 3----------------------------5000 XP
Level 4----------------------------6500 XP
Level 5----------------------------7500 XP
Level 6----------------------------8500 XP
Level 7----------------------------9500 XP
Level 8----------------------------10500 XP
Level 9----------------------------11500 XP
Level 10--------------------------12500 XP
Level 11--------------------------13500 XP
Level 12---------------------------14500 XP
Level 13---------------------------15000 XP
Level 14---------------------------15500 XP
Level 15---------------------------16000 XP
Level 16---------------------------16500 XP
Level 17---------------------------17000 XP
Level 18---------------------------17500 XP
Level 19---------------------------18000 XP
Level 20---------------------------18500 XP
Level 21---------------------------19000 XP
Level 22 and up 20000 XP


This means, after level 22 you need 20000 XP to advance to the next level, regardless at what level you are.
Note that the spreadsheet is without BONUS XP from medals, wins, finishes etc.. So the actual time will be faster.
Also, you get 20% bonus XP from playing in a group with friend(s)!



Prestige

After level 100 you are able to prestige and restart from level 1.
With doing this you are granted a new border around your avatar. The border around the character portrait changes every 10 levels.



I hope this helps a lot for new players (and old).

If any of this information is out-dated or wrong - Send me a PM with information so I can correct it.

Special thanks to Focussed for helping me to keep this up to date and providing us with the prestige template.

This post was edited by Spetch on Jan 23 2020 02:37pm