Blizzard has not been doing a great job of managing its leaks lately, and another one hit last night when a description of Overwatch 2‘s Watchpoint Pack went up. This included a statement that players who purchased the premium battle pass would get access to the game’s new support hero, Kiriko, immediately – which prompted commercial lead Jon Spector to take to Twitter and assure people that the hero is available on the free track of the battle pass, not the paid one.
While this does mean that new heroes remain accessible without having to pay for them on launch (an element that has been present in Overwatch since the game’s launch), it is a rather significant departure from the game’s previous development philosophy of keeping nothing but cosmetics locked behind playtime and keeping the roster accessible to everyone. Spector does not state what remedies will be available for players who do not happen to earn a hero through the battle pass initially, simply stating that there will be undisclosed methods. Probably not where you want the hype train to be when the game is launching on October 4th.
Addressing some incomplete info posted early about our Overwatch 2 Battle Pass – we'll be sharing all details ahead of launch, but want to confirm that new Overwatch 2 heroes will be available on the free track of the Battle Pass.
— Jon Spector (@Spex_J) September 8, 2022
