Overwatch 2 is making some significant changes to the Overwatch formula, most notably in its team size, which has been reduced from 6v6 to 5v5. No matter how many heroes are on each side, players will have the same access to the roster — provided they start completing their battle pass. That’s another big change in Overwatch 2, and many fans aren’t happy.
Overwatch launched with a full roster of heroes and introduced a handful of new ones over time. Overwatch 2, however, will require players to unlock new heroes via the battle pass. They’ll all be available via the free battle pass, meaning everyone has the same theoretical access, but this still leaves much of the community upset.
A quick visit to the Overwatch subreddit reveals many threads to this effect. Some posts raise good points: rusiiin states that they don’t have the time to grind through a battle pass as a father. TheSamuraiGunner believes that locked heroes will spoil Overwatch’s meta of character picks and counter-picks, and GoatsGoats00 has similar thoughts about how battle pass progress will affect a team’s chances of winning. Some like Suzzy-Focks even call for an outright boycott of the game. “If you’re upset about the battle pass and content locked behind it, don’t play,” they say. “Make Overwatch 2’s launch flop.”
Most of the posts call out Blizzard for its “greed” with the battle pass. Redditors have made memes and even brought behavioral analysis into the equation to discuss the issue at hand. Some even joke about maps being locked behind the battle pass someday too. Clearly, this situation is striking a wrong chord with a lot of the player base. It’s important to reiterate that new heroes will still be available for free — they will just require a player’s time to progress in the unpaid battle pass. Even so, it’s the principle of the matter for many players.
Fortunately, the game will support cross-progression and account merging, so you’ll be able to rank up the battle pass across several platforms in tandem. Overwatch 2’s release date is October 4, and its PvP portion will launch in early access that Tuesday. It will be a free-to-play title on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.
