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Overwatch 2 has had plenty of new heroes introduced since its launch but all of them required something from the player to unlock them. This was most commonly done through the use of a battle pass, which players had to grind out just to get to the new hero. It was a change from the original Overwatch that the majority of players weren’t fond of. Thankfully, it looks like Blizzard is finally changing that.
Starting with season 10, Blizzard will make all new heroes available to everyone, completely free. You will no longer have to spend time grinding out a battle pass. You won’t have to spend money to acquire them immediately either. That was another change made to the game that hasn’t sat well with players. A common complaint among the community has been the more forced feeling of having to spend money just to unlock stuff. While there were complaints about the loot boxes in Overwatch, they were at least easy to acquire. All you had to do was play. But there are now things locked behind paywalls. And tossing new heroes behind it felt like a cash grab to some players.
At least with season 10, heroes will no longer be something you have to pay for. You can play anyone you want right away.
Overwatch 2 season 10 will unlock all new heroes, past and future
Having all the new heroes unlocked for everyone is a major quality-of-life improvement for this game. One that could convince some players to come back who might have dropped off. What really makes this a big improvement though, is that it applies to all new heroes since Overwatch 2 launched. Not just any that come out in season 10 and beyond.
As Engadget points out, any of the older new heroes that were released earlier in Overwatch 2’s lifecycle will be unlocked right away. As will the newest hero, Venture, which is launching alongside season 10. “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,” says Overwatch 2 Game Director Aaron Keller.
While Blizzard’s change to hero access is probably the most compelling change to the game, it’s not the only thing the studio had to share. There are other quality-of-life updates discussed in the game’s latest developer update video.
Mythic skins will be unlockable through a new Mythic Shop
Another new change coming to the game is the arrival of the Mythic Shop. Currently, if you wanted to get your hands on mythic skins for a certain hero, these were unlockable through the battle pass. If you were able to get through it. This made them easy to miss for some but Blizzard is implementing the new Mythic Shop with season 10. So you’ll be able to buy those mythic skins that you may have missed along the way. It doesn’t talk about pricing in the dev update but it does say that more details will be shared about the mythic shop and how it works closer to the launch of season 10.
Additionally, Blizzard is looking to bring updates to the competitive PvP gameplay by introducing some changes that it hopes will “give the game a regular heartbeat.” This includes shaking up PvP, as well as rank resets and newer updated systems to the core gameplay. It’s still unclear how often these updates will be pushed out. But it sounds like an improvement to the game all-around. All of these updated portions of the game will be available across platforms. This includes those who play on Steam and use services like GeForce NOW.