Blizzard Defends Locking 'Overwatch 2' Heroes Behind Battle Pass

Overwatch 2 will lock heroes behind its battle pass, offering players the option to grind through the levels on the free version or cough up $10 to unlock the hero instantly in the premium version. As the game is going to be free to play, Blizzard has defended its decision explaining it makes the most economic sense for the developer.

Speaking to Forbes, franchise general manager Walter Kong dove into more detail. “Heroes are the single most engaging content that we have in the game. As we designed this model, it seemed to be a very strong fit to put those heroes into our new engagement systems. Our core development team has roughly tripled in size since the launch of Overwatch and we have many more folks working on the game on partner teams,” elaborated Kong. We want to be able to continually invest in this live game service. So, from the perspective of the business, this isn't free.”

Unsure of the differences between Overwatch and Overwatch 2? Here's the trailer for next game:

In Overwatch, players have had to grapple with the gameplay of new heroes, often being ground into a paste due to overpowered abilities before the team rolls out tweaks to the character. Obviously, there are now gripes that those with the premium battle pass are going to get heroes like Kiriko and guarantee that the game isn't fun for those one the free battle pass who are still working hard to unlock the hero. If all goes according to plan, said game director Aaron Keller in a blog post, that shouldn't be a concern.

"While Overwatch 2 heroes will each have their own clear strengths and weaknesses, and some heroes will be more effective against others, we believe our game plays better and is more fun with fewer hard counters and a broader range of effective hero picks," explained Keller. This focus also means that when a new hero is introduced (beginning with Kiriko), we will delay introducing them into Competitive modes for a few weeks. "This will allow us to tune their balance quickly if needed, as well as give players time to experiment with them. Because of this shift in design approach to heroes, we believe that launching new Overwatch 2 heroes through the Battle Pass system is fair to our players, respects the competitive nature of the game, and aligns with our goal of supporting Overwatch 2 as a live service moving forward."