Overwatch 2 Making Controversial Change to New Heroes

By Logan Moore

Overwatch 2 developer Blizzard Entertainment has revealed that it will be making a controversial change with Heroes in the upcoming sequel. Since the original Overwatch first launched back in 2016, new Heroes that have been added to the game over time have always been freely added to the existing roster of characters. This means that players have always been able to use these new Heroes the moment they are released without any sort of barrier. Unfortunately, based on new information that has now come to light, this won't be true with Overwatch 2. 

According to Blizzard VP Jon Spector, new Heroes that are added to Overwatch 2 will be locked behind the game's Battle Pass. This means that in order to unlock these characters, players will have to actually play the game and obtain the new Heroes by reaching certain tiers of the Pass. While Spector stressed that Heroes would only be tied to the free portion of the Battle Pass that all Overwatch 2 players will be able to access, this still marks a massive change in how new characters will become available over time. 

Even though this move with Overwatch 2 might be quite divisive with fans, it's not that uncommon to see this practice in other multiplayer games. Titles like League of Legends, Valorant, and Rainbow Six Siege have always locked new characters behind a wall of some sort that can then be unlocked by spending real money or in-game currency. With Overwatch 2 now shifting to a free-to-play model, it's not shocking to see that Blizzard would look to adopt a similar system. Still, it's hard to see why many fans would be greatly upset given that the original Overwatch never went about releasing Heroes in this manner. 

It remains to be seen how Overwatch 2 does in the long haul, but fans won't have to wait much longer to initially get their hands on the game. Overwatch 2 is set to release in early access next month on October 4th and will be coming to PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, and PC. 

How do you feel about these alterations that Blizzard is implementing with new Heroes in Overwatch 2? Is this a change that's going to hurt the game overall? Let me know your own thoughts either down in the comments or reach out to me on Twitter at @MooreMan12.

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