A recent Tweet from Overwatch's Commercial Lead and VP, Jon Spector, has sent fans of the hero shooter into a frenzy after he indicated that Overwatch 2's new "heroes will be available on the free track of the Battle Pass." The Tweet was Spector's attempt to address incomplete information posted early about the Overwatch 2 Battle Pass. However, the statement has been highly controversial among Overwatch 2's community as people debate whether this is a wise decision or not, especially when considering that while the game is an FPS, it is also highly dependent on strategy and hero metas.
While there is much left to speculate, it can be assumed that Spector is referencing Overwatch 2's Watchpoint Pack, when he touches on incomplete information. If purchased the content bundle will give players loot like the Space Raider legendary skins for Soldier 76 and Cassidy, a Season 1 Battle Pass, virtual currency, and more. A Reddit user's screenshot of the Watchpoint Pack's updated description mentioned that Season One Battle Pass owners would also "automatically receive access to Overwatch's latest hero Kiriko" though that reference has since been removed. Regardless of this confusion, however, fans are worried about the idea that new heroes will be attached to a battle pass.
Some Players Think Blizzard Doesn't Understand Its Own Game
It would seem that the news of having to unlock characters implies that players will need to either grind the free track of the Overwatch 2 Battle Pass or pay to receive them immediately. Though Overwatch 2 is shifting the meta, the franchise has always been a hero shooter. Some believe that the recent news means that Blizzard truly doesn't understand its own game. It could be that the company is trying to follow in Valorant or Apex Legend's footsteps, but most fans are vehement that this system won't work here. After all, in both Overwatch and the Overwatch 2 beta, users have consistently been able to hero-swap in the middle of the game. Often this is done to counter another team's composition, such as getting more aggressive with dive characters. Counter-picking is essentia, so having every character is too.
In games like Valorant or Apex Legends, abilities vary, but the core items are already accessible to everyone on the map. Apex Legends gameplay, for example, is mostly reliant on guns, whereas abilities in Overwatch are often more critical.
Perhaps this sort of system would work for Overwatch 2 if the roster had more characters, like League of Legends which has multiple champions that can fill similar roles. Overwatch is limited in its heroes, as it only has one character that can play like Reinhardt and one character that has Mercy's support kit and skillset. Therefore, some fans believe that not having a character unlocked can be damaging to a team's composition.
Because Overwatch 2 will be free-to-play, fans believe that this is the developer's way to ensure that it is still making money and retaining players. The Overwatch community has taken to platforms such as Reddit and Twitter to share their thoughts, with a fair amount of Tweets agreeing that locking heroes behind a Battle Pass doesn't seem like a good idea.
Blizzard Needs Incentives to Create New Content
However, other players believe that those who aren't happy with the decision are overreacting and should wait for more information to be released before drawing conclusions. A few Reddit users have commented that through the Battle Pass, there will be more content, which isn't untrue as Overwatch 2 is set to have seasonal updates for players to delve into. As such, some hope that this Battle Pass will boost engagement for the game and reduce the risk of having another long content drought, which the original Overwatch suffered from.
Another opinion floating around is that people who are serious about playing Overwatch competitively will grind to have all the heroes in their arsenal, so they will have access to what they need in a short time span. The heroes are available on the free track of the Battle Pass, which means they aren't locked behind a paywall. Some theorize that this has the potential to work if new Overwatch 2 heroes aren't instantly launched into ranked gameplay in order to give players time to acquire them.
Overall, having a Battle Pass in Overwatch 2 was already a surprising update, but putting heroes on a track has sparked a wave of controversy that ignited the community. Concrete details remain to be seen, but it is likely that the developers will release a more official announcement about the state of the game before launch.
Overwatch 2 will release on October 4 for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.