New 'Overwatch 2' heroes will be locked behind a battle pass
Overwatch 2 is only a few weeks away and more details are revealed on what to expect from the sequel. It's been known for a while that there will be three new heroes at launch, the first new faces in the series for over two and a half years. But there will be significant changes to how Blizzard introduces new playable characters - you'll need to unlock them through a battle pass.
"In response to some incomplete information posted at the start of our Overwatch 2 Battle Pass - we will share full details prior to launch, but would like to confirm that the new Overwatch 2 heroes will be available on the Battle Pass free track," Jon Spector, Chief Commercial Officer and VP of Overwatch, wrote on Twitter. Blizzard plans to add three or four heroes each year on a seasonal basis after launch.
Spector was referring to details that someone apparently posted too soon about the battle pass. The leak also indicated that the next support hero will be called Kiriko. Per Reset Era, a description of the Watchpoint Pack, a bundle that includes access to Overwatch and a bunch of perks for the free sequel, noted that those who purchase the premium version of the battle pass "Automatically receive access to Overwatch's newest hero, Kiriko!" The description has since been edited to remove this information.
It's not uncommon for free games to pay for new characters or at least not make them immediately available to everyone. Valorant and Apex Legends take this approach.
However, this is a major change for Overwatch. Blizzard made every character available to all players at once in the original game. Players are free to swap characters mid-game to counter enemy compositions, which is not possible in Apex and Valorant. New heroes tend to be overpowered early on as well. Newcomer Junker Queen has been a dominant presence in the Overwatch League for the past few weeks for this reason (the league upgraded to an early version of Overwatch 2 this season).
Managing new heroes behind Battle Pass progression means those who don't have time to scramble to unlock them could quickly find themselves at a disadvantage. It's unclear if players will be able to pay to upgrade the battle pass, as they can in the likes of Fortnite and Fall Guys< /em>, but it looks like those who purchase the premium battle pass will get instant access to at least one of the new faces.
Blizzard will reveal more details on how the Overwatch 2 Battle Pass and character unlocks work in the coming weeks. The game will arrive and fully replace the current version of Overwatch on October 4.
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Overwatch 2 is only a few weeks away and more details are revealed on what to expect from the sequel. It's been known for a while that there will be three new heroes at launch, the first new faces in the series for over two and a half years. But there will be significant changes to how Blizzard introduces new playable characters - you'll need to unlock them through a battle pass.
"In response to some incomplete information posted at the start of our Overwatch 2 Battle Pass - we will share full details prior to launch, but would like to confirm that the new Overwatch 2 heroes will be available on the Battle Pass free track," Jon Spector, Chief Commercial Officer and VP of Overwatch, wrote on Twitter. Blizzard plans to add three or four heroes each year on a seasonal basis after launch.
Spector was referring to details that someone apparently posted too soon about the battle pass. The leak also indicated that the next support hero will be called Kiriko. Per Reset Era, a description of the Watchpoint Pack, a bundle that includes access to Overwatch and a bunch of perks for the free sequel, noted that those who purchase the premium version of the battle pass "Automatically receive access to Overwatch's newest hero, Kiriko!" The description has since been edited to remove this information.
It's not uncommon for free games to pay for new characters or at least not make them immediately available to everyone. Valorant and Apex Legends take this approach.
However, this is a major change for Overwatch. Blizzard made every character available to all players at once in the original game. Players are free to swap characters mid-game to counter enemy compositions, which is not possible in Apex and Valorant. New heroes tend to be overpowered early on as well. Newcomer Junker Queen has been a dominant presence in the Overwatch League for the past few weeks for this reason (the league upgraded to an early version of Overwatch 2 this season).
Managing new heroes behind Battle Pass progression means those who don't have time to scramble to unlock them could quickly find themselves at a disadvantage. It's unclear if players will be able to pay to upgrade the battle pass, as they can in the likes of Fortnite and Fall Guys< /em>, but it looks like those who purchase the premium battle pass will get instant access to at least one of the new faces.
Blizzard will reveal more details on how the Overwatch 2 Battle Pass and character unlocks work in the coming weeks. The game will arrive and fully replace the current version of Overwatch on October 4.
All products recommended by Engadget are selected by our editorial team, independent of our parent company. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate...
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