While it’s safe to say Overwatch 2 is highly anticipated, the method for unlocking newly-released heroes has sparked a fire in some fans.
Somehow, leaks in gaming have become as commonplace as second breakfast in The Shire, and the latest ‘incomplete info posted early’ has been clarified by the Overwatch 2 Commercial Leader & VP at Blizzard, Jon Spector in a Tweet posted late last night:
Spector clarified that new playable heroes will be earned via the free track of the Battle Pass. Overwatch is a hero shooter title based around using the right hero and abilities to counter teams and so forth, so the fan outrage comes from the expected commitment it will take to even touch the meta of the game in Overwatch 2. The clarification made by Spector doesn’t elaborate on level requirements for said battle pass, so it left fans to their own devices.
One Twitter user, a verified Twitch streamer @Stylosa said, “These heroes can also be unlocked via the ‘free’ BP. The question is at what level? At what time investment? If it’s a substantial time investment, (And given new heroes are typically OP as f***) You’re looking at [pay-to-win].”
There are, of course, other flame comments made under Spector’s initial Tweet, but there is also the counter argument of ‘all other games do this, what’s the big deal?’ User @plantarctica writes “I’ve been playing since 2020, so I’ve never experienced a new hero launch in OW, but this is how literally every other game does it, lol. Why are people so annoyed? It’s awesome that OW released free, unlocked heroes and maps and cosmetics for 5 years, but this isn’t tragic news.”
Fans have been clamouring for anything Overwatch 2 for years now, and considering other titles such as League of Legends and Valorant employ complete paywalls, the method of being able to actually earn characters rather than just buy them may be a better idea all around.
The sequel’s shift to a free-to-play model is bound to cause some growing pains like this, especially when the finer details of the Battle Pass system have not been fully revealed yet. Back in June, the developer detailed a general “road map” for the game, with a pile of new heroes, maps and game modes in the first two seasons, followed by a more gradual, every other season approach beyond that. However, the third new character arriving at launch has yet to be confirmed or revealed, even as launch looms less than a month away.
Given that the original never worked like this, it remains to be seen how Activision-Blizzard’s plan will play out when Overwatch 2 launches October 4 on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox systems.
