Overwatch 2 is finally giving players access to all heroes for free — no need to unlock via the Battle Pass

If the recent Cowboy Bebop collab wasn’t enough to make you come back to Overwatch, here’s some good news — Overwatch 2 is finally making all heroes available for free upfront.

As reported by GamesRadar, Overwatch 2 director Aaron Keller shared in a media roundtable interview that the game will finally give players upfront access to all heroes, with no need to unlock them via the Free or Premium Battle Pass.

Back in the original Overwatch days, heroes were available for everyone, with the only paid component being the loot boxes that featured skins and other cosmetics. In Overwatch 2 though, the system was overhauled so that new heroes can only be unlocked through the Battle Pass.

Technically, all heroes are still free, though to unlock them via the Free Battle Pass, players would need to spend a lot of time in-game. Meanwhile, the Premium Battle Pass gives players a faster way to unlock them.

This change was unpopular to a certain section of the fanbase. Now though, Blizzard is walking back on this idea. Specifically, Keller said that they wanted to change this so as not to give others a competitive advantage.

The move is a welcome one based on fan reactions. This makes sense considering that many believed the Battle Pass system to be rather predatory, especially for players who only have a limited time to play.

While Overwatch 2 is moving away from the Battle Pass system for heroes, fans will need to wait until the start of Season 10 to see the changes.