Overwatch 2’s new heroes are locked behind a battle pass, concerning fans

Overwatch 2 will seemingly make a major change to how Blizzard Entertainment rolls out new heroes for the game, according to leaked details about the sequel’s battle pass design. Instead of being available to all players immediately when they launch, new heroes will be available to premium battle pass owners on release, while other players will unlock them by progressing through the free battle pass track — or outright paying for them.

Those leaked details also include the name of Overwatch’s next hero: Kiriko, a support-class character who has previously been teased in trailers for Overwatch 2. Blizzard is not yet announcing Kiriko but it has promised to add a support character. Overwatch 2’s launch in October.

Information about new details Overwatch 2 and its battle pass plans come from a description on Blizzard’s own website for the game’s Watchpoint Pack, a paid version of the free-to-play game that includes cosmetics, the season 1 premium battle pass, and other perks. Here’s a portion of that description, which Blizzard has since removed:

The Season One Premium BattlePass unlocks over 80 levels of reward, including Legendary Hinotori Kirigiko and Mythic Cyber Demon Genji. In addition, as a Season One Premium Battle Pass owner you will automatically receive access to Overwatch’s latest hero Kiriko!

When it was revealed that the new heroes could be behind the battle pass’s success, many fans were concerned about how the characters would be distributed. Overwatch 2, pointing out that it runs contrary to the game’s design — switching heroes and counter-picking heroes mid-game is built into the game’s design, and all players not having access to all heroes would impact gameplay. The original was therefore released. OverwatchIt was a full-priced title in 2016.

Overwatch commercial leader and Blizzard VP John Spector addressed those concerns — in a way — on Twitter, saying that the leaked information about the battle pass was “incomplete.”

“We’ll be sharing all details ahead of launch, but want to confirm that new Overwatch 2 heroes will be available on the free track of the Battle Pass,” Spector said. The comment did not seem to allay fears of monetization by free-to-play. Overwatch 2It will have an impact on how the game plays, beyond what cosmetic options are available for players.

But if the leaked details about the battle pass are accurate, the plan to restrict the rollout of new heroes via a battle pass won’t be drastically different from how other free-to-play shooters, like Apex LegendsOr ValorantThey handle the additions to their staff. Potential upsides Overwatch 2Players with tiered heroes could see shorter queues as only a small portion of players will want to be the first to get the brand new member to their roster.

Polygon reached out to Blizzard in order for more clarity and comments. Overwatch 2’s battle pass and how they’ll affect new heroes, and will update this story when the company responds.