Overwatch 2 reveals information about Battle Pass and Hero Unlock

We’re just weeks away from Overwatch 2’s release, and Blizzard on Thursday released new details about the battle pass and monetization system for the character-based shooter. The new game will introduce a huge change compared to the original: New characters, like upcoming support character Kirikowill be unlockable via the free battle pass, but not until level 55. In the original Overwatch game, players were given free, instant access to all new characters.

The change comes as part of Overwatch 2’s move to a live, free-to-play service model. This is also one of the biggest differences between Overwatch and Overwatch 2, alongside the change in squad size from five players to six. Returning Overwatch players will get instant access to the three new characters, Sojourn, Junker Queen, and Kiriko, by claiming the free Founder’s Pack, but future characters will need to be unlocked.

Like many live-action games, Overwatch 2 offers two tracks in its battle pass: a free track with fewer unlockables, and a paid track that offers more (and arguably more sought-after) cosmetics than the free track. Purchasing the Premium Battle Pass also grants instant access to all new characters being introduced this season. Blizzard plans to release new characters every other season (and back-to-back releases during the first two), with new maps added to the game in seasons without new characters.

New characters will be locked out of competitive modes for a few weeks, according to Aaron Keller, Game Director of Overwatch 2. He said the intention behind this window is twofold: give people time to unlock new characters and give developers a chance to balance these characters before entering competitive settings. It’s not clear exactly how many weeks the new characters will be unavailable in the competition or how long it will take to reach level 55 of the battle pass. But given that 80 levels are designed to last players through a nine-week season, it seems like a significant investment of time for players to unlock new characters without paying.

The cost of new characters: time or money

With seasons lasting nine weeks and characters being released every other season after the first two, players will see roughly six battle passes each year. Using the Season 1 price of $10 per Battle Pass, that’s $60 per year for each Battle Pass, or $30 per year if you only buy Battle Passes containing new characters. This is roughly in line with shooters like Valorant, which also let you unlock new characters for free by playing the game or unlock instantly by paying $10 worth of in-game currency.

Players can earn this currency for free through daily and weekly challenges, but Keller and Overwatch 2 head of advertising John Spector said it would take roughly two seasons of consecutive play to earn enough to unlock a premium battle pass — theoretically allowing players to earn all new characters with instant unlock for free but only with constant play time.

Players who join the game later or who don’t unlock new characters in the battle pass will have two options to unlock them afterwards. There will be challenges for new characters that allow you to unlock them through normal gameplay, although the exact requirements have not been announced. Players can also unlock any characters they missed in the store by paying a price that Spector said will be pretty close to a full battle pass.

The news that the upcoming heroes would have to be unlocked was met with resistance from the Overwatch community, sparking much discussion about the importance of in-match character swapping and the limitations the new model places on this system. When asked about this conflict, the Overwatch team suggested that the perception and expectations of character swaps may not be aligned with actual player behavior.

“When you look at the data on how often people switch characters and how many characters they typically play at once, the majority of our players play a relatively small number of characters,” Keller said, adding that the developers have tried to soften hard counters in the game and reduce some of the rock-paper-scissors interactions in an effort to allow people to play the characters they want to play instead of being forced to switch to counters. Ultimately, although the requirement to unlock new characters imposes some new limitations on the game, Keller said the team expects Overwatch 2 to remain highly competitive.

Still, the new model seems designed to steer players toward the battle pass. Spector said the purpose of the pass is to provide a huge amount of obvious value to players. “We really want players to see this system as rewarding and generous and worth their investment of time, and for some of them, money,” Spector said.

It’s a big bet for Blizzard that players will want to invest continuously over time, rather than investing upfront in the game. We’ll find out if that bet pays off when Overwatch 2 comes out on October 4th.