When Overwatch 2 launched back in 2022, the franchise switched to a free-to-play model, and as you might expect, there have been some complaints about how Blizzard has chosen to monetize the game. One sticking point has been the fact that in order to access new Heroes, you either have to buy the premium version of the most recent seasonal battle pass (which costs $10) or complete a number of hero challenges, which takes time. This kind of setup isn’t unheard of in a live-service game, but in a game like Overwatch where character balance is such a major focus, locking some folks who don’t want to pay out of using a new character for a certain amount of time has been a bone of contention.
Well, it seems that’s about to change. On a recent episode of the Group Up! Podcast, Overwatch 2 executive producer Jared Neuss stated Blizzard is “actively working toward” a new system that will allow everyone to play as a new Hero from Day 1…
“Would I like for every single player to be able to experience a Hero the day that a season drops? Yes. Do I think we’ll get there? Yes, I do think that we’ll get there. We’re actively working towards it right now. Can I talk about the details? No, I can’t. I recognize it’s an issue and something that we definitely do want to address in the game, because we’re not actively hitting that first goal.
Part of it is also just us making sure we’re balancing that we’re free to play with fairness. So, yes, it’s like, obviously you can earn every Hero [in game], you don’t have to buy them, but like you said, there’s this period of time where… does a team have a competitive advantage? That’s one of the reasons why we want to change our model going forward. Because it doesn’t feel great in a game like this, that’s so dependent on Heroes, to hold people back.”
How this new system would work, remains to be seen. There’s always give and take in a live service game, so if new Heroes become available to everyone upon launch, then Blizzard will likely look to make that up somewhere else.
Overwatch 2 can be played on PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, and Switch. The game’s annual Winter Wonderland event kicks off tomorrow (December 19) with the usual array of festive modes and skins.
