Overwatch 2 explained: Battle Pass unlocks, pricing, seasonal events

Here's what you'll have to do (or pay) to play as Kiriko.

Overwatch 2 is almost upon us, and Blizzard is finally prepared to talk about its Battle Pass, pricing, unlocks and more. We’ve gathered all you need to know right here.

Let’s dive into it, shall we?

Overwatch 2 Battle Pass pricing and unlocks

Overwatch 2 will offer up a free and paid Battle Pass — the latter of which is called Premium — with one hero locked behind it inside every second iteration.

New hero Kiriko is embedded within Overwatch 2‘s first Battle Pass, and can either be earned by hitting level 55 in the free pathway, or unlocked instantly by purchasing the Premium Pass.

The Premium Battle Pass will cost 1,000 Overwatch Coins to unlock, which translates to $10 USD, $14.95 AUD or $15.95 NZD.

Those who’ve already dropped $60 AUD on the Overwatch Watchpoint Pack will have instant access to the Premium Pass, and therefore, Kiriko. Finally, those who own the original Overwatch will also be able to gain instant access to Kiriko through the Founder’s Pack; players need to redeem the right to Kiriko before Overwatch 2 Season 2 begins.

If you’re unfamiliar with Kiriko, you can check her out in action below; stay tuned to Stevivor for more on the hero in the coming days.

What’s in the Battle Pass?

Here’s what players will be able to earn via the free Battle Pass, which uses 20 tiers of a possible 80:

• Newest support hero, Kiriko (for new players who won’t have her already)
• 2 Epic Skins
• 1 Weapon Charm
• 2 Souvenirs
• 1 Highlight Intro
• 14 additional items (emotes, victory poses, name cards, sprays, player icons, etc.)
• Prestige Tier Titles (8 earnable titles available only after completing the entire pass)

And here’s what’s available inside the 80-tier Premium Battle Pass:

• Immediate access to Kiriko
• 20% XP Battle Pass Boost
• 1 Mythic Skin (for Genji; see the images below)
• 5 Legendary Skins and 1 Epic Skin
• 3 Play of the Game Intros
• 4 Weapon Charms
• 3 Emotes
• 3 Souvenirs
• 6 Poses
• 6 Name Cards
• 30+ additional cosmetic rewards

The cadence of Battle Passes means that we’ll see three or four new heroes per year, according to Game Director Aaron Keller.

“We’re going to release a hero roughly every other season, not every season, so it’ll be about… three to four per year,” he asserted.

“The hero roster is going to get bigger and bigger over time and part of that is really exciting,” he continued. “As the hero roster gets bigger, it means that players are going to have more choices of what they want to play in a match, and it’s one of the reasons why we feel more confident about the competitive nature of the game with this decision.

“The more heroes you have in the game, the more you’re able to put together a team composition in order to answer what the the enemy team is doing without having to rely on only one particular correct choice.”

Keller also explained that new heroes like Kiriko won’t be immediately available in competitive play.

“The purpose here is two-fold: our team will take this time to monitor and tune the new heroes’ performance while players learn how new heroes work; and it also gives Battle Pass players on the free track some additional time to unlock the new hero before they become available in Competitive modes,” Blizzard explained in a press release.

What happens to seasonal events?

Overwatch Commercial Leader, Jon Spector said that seasonal events like Junkenstein’s Revenge would remain in-game, they’ll obviously be quite different when compared to the original Overwatch. For starters, the events won’t offer up any themed loot boxes as the sequel has done away with them altogether.

“With the shift away from loot boxes and moving to the Battle Pass in [the] shop, that’s going to be the main way that we’re delivering cosmetic content,” Spector said.

“Players who who are interested in Halloween skins, for instance, as part of our Halloween event… we’ll have some cool stuff that appears in the shop around then.”

Spector also confirmed that the Junkstein Halloween event itself will be updated.

“We’re actually launching an all-new Junkenstein’s experience,” he said. “It’s not the same one that we’ve played the last several years, but the team thought it would be a lot of fun to continue in that Junkenstein saga and tell a new story there with a new experience for players.”

Additional purchases and pricing

Activision Blizzard doesn’t seem prepared as yet to discuss what individual cosmetics will cost in its in-game shop, but did confirm with Stevivor that Battle Pass tier skips will be priced at 200 Overwatch Coins (or $2 USD, which theoretically makes it $2.95 AUD and $3.95 NZD going off the Premium Battle Pass price).

Earlier this year, we reported that Activision Blizzard was surveying users to see what pricing limits they’d be comfortable with, and potentially suggested skins that could set Aussies back $45 AUD.

What if I miss out on a Battle Pass?

Speaking with Stevivor, Spector said that items found within Battle Passes will only be accessible — and more importantly, earnable — during their respective season; in short, if you miss out, you miss out.

That being said, heroes are quite different; if you don’t get to level 55 in the free Battle Pass and don’t earn Kiriko, you’ll still be able to unlock her via a special set of challenges.

“In terms of the Battle Pass content in future seasons, right now we don’t have any specific plans about bringing like Season 1 Battle Pass content back to the game at a future date, except as I said, there will be clear ways to get any new heroes if you weren’t playing in the season when they came out,” Spector said.

“In terms of the cosmetic content for the battle pass, we’ve not ruled out potentially bringing it back in the future, but we don’t have any specific plans to do so. We do think that there’s something special about feeling like you you earned that content through through the Battle Pass.”

Keller explained the manner in which players can earn heroes they’ve missed via the Battle Pass itself.

“There are going to be other ways of earning heroes,” he explained. “The season after the hero is released, we’re going to open up a persistent challenge; so just by playing the game and completing that challenge, you’ll also be able to earn the hero that way.

Keller also confirmed that players will be able to earn Overwatch Coins “by playing the game and completing weekly challenges… and you can use those Overwatch Coins to upgrade to a Premium Battle Pass for any season.”

Overwatch 2 goes free-to-play on Windows PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, PS4, PS5 and Switch on 5 October 2022 here in Australia. We went into great detail when it comes to big changes, like 5v5 gameplay, right here.

Overwatch 2 5 October 2022 PC PS4 PS5 Switch Xbox One Xbox Series S & X   Download on Windows PC via Battle.net Download on the Microsoft Store Download on the Nintendo eShop