Is Overwatch 2 a pay-to-win game? That is the question that has arisen since Blizzard decided to lock new heroes behind a battle pass.
Overwatch 2 will be a free-to-play title, as announced earlier this year. This is quite the opposite of the first game. Naturally, there will be consequences for being a AAA free-to-play title, and Activision Blizzard has already confirmed one of the major changes to the game’s system that has fans worried.
Overwatch 2 Heroes are now locked behind the Battle Pass
The news first leaked on Resetera, where user Solidsnakejej posted a screenshot of a since-removed Overwatch 2 description, which included information on the season 1 battle pass.
According to leaked description, Overwatch 2 will radically alter how Blizzard Entertainment introduces new heroes to the game. Instead of being available to all players immediately upon release, new heroes will be available to premium battle pass owners first, with other players unlocking them by progressing through the free battle pass track — or paying for them outright. When compared to the previous version, where all new heroes were instantly available to all players, this leak naturally upset fans.
Since then, Overwatch Commercial Leader & VP at Blizzard, Jon Spector, has confirmed that all of the new Overwatch 2 heroes will be available via the free battle pass.
The pay-to-win mechanics in Overwatch 2 are concerning
It goes without saying that a grind would be necessary to unlock new Heroes through the free battle pass; this has long been the standard for free-to-play live-service games. The heroes may be available in the earlier tiers, or they could be locked at the very end. Since it wouldn’t make sense for Blizzard to make the game’s most crucial aspect so readily available for the free players, we are betting on the latter.
In order to better understand the situation, Twitter user Dorwulf questioned Spector about whether or not free players would no longer be able to acquire Heros if they didn’t grind hard enough during a given season. Instead of explaining, Spector stated, “We will have free paths to get new heroes in future seasons too.” As one might expect, the statement raised more concerns than it did relief.
This is not the first time Activision Blizzard has faced criticism from long-time fans for their free-to-play titles. Diablo Immortal, a free-to-play mobile game, sparked quite a stir earlier this year due to its pay-to-win elements and insane grind in end-game activities.
It remains to be seen whether Overwatch 2 will be a more consumer-friendly experience or akin to Diablo Immortal. Overwatch 2 will be released on October 4, 2022 for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S, so fans won’t have to wait long to find out.
