Image: Blizzard Entertainment
Overwatch 2 is making all of its heroes free starting from Season 10, with the introduction of new playable hero Venture.
Overwatch 2 is officially making all of its heroes free to use without a battle pass, starting with Season 10. Blizzard Entertainment announced the news in a developer update going over the first-person shooter’s next few seasons of content. That includes a new hero named Venture, a new game mode called Clash, a Mythic skin shop and a few new maps on top of that.
Watch the developer update below:
Overwatch 2 is making all of its heroes free
This week’s developer update was a pretty exciting one for Overwatch 2 fans, removing a few key annoyances the game has had since its launch. The biggest change is that all Overwatch heroes - new and old - will no longer be locked behind seasonal battle passes. Previously, players had to either buy a premium battle pass to unlock a new hero instantly or grind halfway through the battle pass to get them for free. This change makes it so new heroes are instantly available to everyone upon release - just like the original game.
This change will be implemented in Season 10, making older heroes like Illari and Mauga accessible to everyone along with the season’s upcoming hero: the non-binary adventurer Venture with a futuristic drill gun, who we’ll likely learn more about in the weeks leading up to their release. This is just one of a few ways Blizzard plans to make in-game progression feel a little less grindy this year.
For example, Season 10 is also introducing something called a Mythic Shop. Here, players can find previously released Mythic skins and buy them directly from the shop if they’ve missed out on a few seasons. We’re now sure how these skins will be priced, but it won’t be as simple as just buying a fully customisable skin right off the bat. According to the company, you’ll be able to ‘work towards’ Mythic skins and decide how far into each skin you would like to build. Instead of fully unlocking a specific Mythic skin’s full spread of customisation options, you can, “spread your progression towards other Mythic hero skins.”
Perhaps most consequentially for free-to-play players, they can finally earn Overwatch Coins in the battle pass starting with Season 10. Up to 600 coins can be earned via both the free and premium tracks of the battle pass, allowing you to make back some of the coins you spent on the pass itself. Season 10 will also see a limited-time trial of the upcoming Clash game mode in a new map called Hanaoka, letting players test the mode before it officially launches. Season 11 will add a Peru-set Push map called Runasapi, shedding light on Illari and the Inti Warriors’ home. Season 11 will also bring a reworked Colosseo while the team works on reworking more game maps to address player feedback.
Overwatch 2 Season 9 will end in mid-April, after which Season 10 will launch.
