2016 was a long time ago. Blizzard’s decision to make Overwatch 2 free-to-play and add a battle pass was necessary to bring it in line with most other multiplayer FPS games on the market today, but Big Blue is doing its part. It has been confirmed that the new heroes will be locked behind a free battle pass led by new healer Kiriko when the game launches. For fans clamoring for a more modern monetization model and, well, It does not matter which other news after years of relative silence, it’s a dream come true. And it turns out that the developers themselves are also happy with this approach.
I spoke with Art Director Dion Rogers, Narrative Designer Kyungseo Min, and Hero Designer Piero Herrera about how excited they are to be able to add new content with this template.
Rogers notes, “One of the biggest things about Overwatch 2 was that we needed to be able to launch the game much faster than before. We spend a lot of time working on the tools and the workflow, so we can really do this.
“It was a bit difficult to do it in the first game,” he laments. “Of course we could do it, but not as fast as we would like… Now we can try a lot more ideas and not waste a lot of time. Makes world building more fun; It used to be quite fun, but now it’s even funnier.”
Herrera says: “The designer’s dream has come true. Being able to write a script and watch it play in just about six seconds only adds to the overall flexibility of delivering new content, which is why I love it.
“We are much happier to be able to release content much more frequently with the new model because we have a lot of ideas and in the hero team we are constantly prototyping new mechanics and we want to see them released to players. Now that we have expanded our team, we are basically allowed to create more new things.”
The relationship between new content and Overwatch has been strained for over a year, with two FFA maps being the only additions to the main game. While these new locations look great, they appeal to a certain type of player, leaving everyone else feeling left out and, more importantly, hungry. It does not matter that shiny and new.
As fans continue to flock to the likes of Valorant for a long time, OW2’s battle pass and free system could be a lifesaver. Not only does this modernize the game, but the constant stream of new loot feels like the perfect way to combat the much-hated content drought.
If you want to delve into all things OW beforehand, be sure to check out our Overwatch 2 tier list to pick your new base game, and check the Overwatch 2 system requirements to make sure your heads are on point.
Source : PC Gamesn
