Under Microsoft, it may be a reality that a new character will be immediately available for free to anyone who wants to pick up Blizzard’s team FPS.

Overwatch 2, launched in 2022, immediately replaced the first installment. The business model also changed: instead of a pay-to-play game, the sequel was given a free-to-play model, which was criticized by many for its monetization. One such solution is that new characters (heroes) can only be obtained by purchasing the latest seasonal battle pass (which costs $10) or by completing several challenges (which is time-consuming). In a game with a live service model, this is common, but in a title where character balance is important, it creates a somewhat unfair situation for non-paying players because they don’t have access to everyone (unless they invest a few hours in Overwatch 2…).

Blizzard wants to change that: Jared Neuss, the producer in charge of Overwatch 2, talked on the Group Up! podcast about how they are actively working on a new system where everyone has access to new heroes: “Would I want every single player to be able to experience a hero the day a season drops? Yes. Do I think we’ll get there? Yes, I think we’ll get there. We’re actively working on it right now. Can I talk about the details? No, I can’t. I know it’s an issue and something that we definitely want to address in the game because we’re not actively hitting that first target.

Part of it is just making sure that we’re balancing the freedom to play with fairness. So, yeah, it’s like, obviously you can earn any hero [in the game], you don’t have to buy them, but like you said, there’s this period of time where… does one team have a competitive advantage? That’s one of the reasons we want to change our model going forward. Because it doesn’t feel good in a game like this that’s so dependent on Heroes to hold people back,” Neuss said.

We’ll see what this new model will be, because they’re definitely not going to talk about it this year…

Source: WCCFTech