Ahead of Venture’s release in Overwatch 2, Blizzard has confirmed that future heroes – and all of the ones that have released since OW2 launched – will be made free to play. Yes, you head that right – no more battle passes, no more grinding.
Overwatch 2 is, unfortunately, hardly without controversy. Between the cancellation of the highly anticipated PvE mode in its original form, the FPS game‘s Steam port debuting to ‘overwhelmingly negative’ reviews, OW2 isn’t exactly what a lot of fans imagined it would be.
Having switched focus to a more conventional battle pass system, Blizzard initially locked new heroes away as rewards, meaning you’d have to complete 45 tiers before you could finally unlock them. With the release of new hero Venture, however, that’s all changing.
“We want all of you to have the opportunity to play Venture as soon as they are released,” says Game Director Aaron Keller in the team’s Tuesday, March 19 dev update. “Heroes are one of the most exciting additions to the game, and we want all of our players to have immediate access to them when they launch.
“I’m thrilled to share that Venture and all future heroes will be free for all players when they launch,” he continues. “Starting with Venture, heroes will no longer be unlocked through the battle pass – this includes all previous Overwatch 2 heroes.”
Keller then states that the team is introducing “a new way to unlock Mythic skins.” A new Mythic shop will appear alongside Season 10, and will allow you to pick up cosmetics from previous seasons. I sense that it’ll probably work similarly to the League of Legends Mythic shop – but maybe that’s just because the names are similar.
While the dev blog was relatively short, this is some pretty big news. As someone who doesn’t have all the time in the world to grind through huge battle passes, I’m thankful I’ll be able to try out Lifeweaver and Mauga – two Overwatch 2 characters I just didn’t get the time to unlock.
If this news has reignited that Overwatch flame, then we have an Overwatch 2 tier list that’s worth checking out before you dive in. Alternatively, if you’re looking for something new, we have a rundown of all the best multiplayer games to try out with your friends.
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