According to an old concept art by a developer of the game, Overwatch 2 could have a Battle Pass. A model already adopted by many competing titles.
Halo Infinite, Fortnite, Call of Duty, Valorant. There are many games that have adopted the Battle Pass model. And one of the most anticipated FPS of the next few years could follow.
A Battle Pass system for Overwatch 2?
Overwatch could succumb to one of the trends in modern online gaming. The sequel to Blizzard’s successful FPS, awaited since 2019, will reach another major milestone. After an alpha reserved only for professional gamers and developers, the game will be approached by a part of the general public with its first closed beta on April 26th. The opportunity to discover Overwatch 2’s changes, new maps, new characters and more.
If Blizzard’s main interest is to test its servers and make sure the balancing and redesign of the well-known people is right, the editors will be able to get players’ opinions on the new mechanics. And one of them could have shown up in an artwork by Jayson Kirby. The artist, who worked on Overwatch game UIs until 2020, has shared some of his work on Artstation. And on one of the images we can see that a Battle Pass is in the pipeline.
Paid Battle Pass or not? The question remains
Specifically, we see Bastion or one of its congeners, the list of accessible menus, unlocked rewards, and most importantly, a “Battle Pass” line below the store. Something that suggests Blizzard will follow suit and adopt this formula in Overwatch 2. Keep in mind that it mostly resembles a modern monetization mechanism, however, it doesn’t necessarily require a cash register in most cases. The primary purpose of the feature is to reward players for their loyalty with new items, skins and other items that can only be unlocked during the current season.
Currently, Overwatch offers a system that comes close to this from time to time. For example, for the current Anniversary Remix event, players can earn a number of character rewards each week. All you have to do is play a certain number of games, or even less if you win, to unlock them. It remains to be seen how the publisher plans to implement this new mechanic in Overwatch 2, at least if it makes it to the final game. The concept art in question is from 2020 at the latest and the interface and its content may have changed in the meantime. However, the image in question mentions challenges and rewards for playing a quick game. It will have to wait until Blizzard officially says it wants to fix it.
