Blizzard is making Overwatch 2 heroes free for everyone

Starting with its 10th season, Overwatch 2's post-launch heroes will be free for all players at the day of their release.

In a video outlining the hero shooter's future, Blizzard evealed the upcoming hero Venture will be immediately available in April. Previous post-launch heroes will also be made free retroactively.

New players will have to go through the game's tutorial, but once that's done, the entire roster will be accessible.

Previously, Overwatch 2 players had to buy a season's premium pass to get instant access to DLC heroes, or play to a certain milestone on the free track. This new method is "old" in that it's just how Overwatch 1's DLC heroes worked.

At the time, it seemed like an potential extra revenue stream for Blizzard. It was also one (of many) controversial moves made for the game ahead of its rocky release in 2022.

Overwatch 2 is fighting for its life

Blizzard has slowly, but surely trying to get Overwatch 2 in a less contentious state. But there are still issues lingering over the sequel, such as the future of its PvE component.

A recent Kotaku report claimed its Story Missions may get the boot. While team members have advocated for ways to make it a more central part of the game, higher-ups are believed to not have much faith in it, instead focusing on the PvP.

Much of the game's issues appear to stem from its PvP focus. This was also the case for the original Overwatch, but those issues are further exacerbated by its renewed esports scene.

Story Missions is further hurt by the Xbox layoffs in January, which impacted several Overwatch 2 devs working on PvE. Whatever it's future, Blizzard's shooter isn't out of the woods quite yet.