Blizzard to change Overwatch 2 battle pass and rewards structure
Blizzard has been tackling countless issues that are plaguing Overwatch 2. Recently, the developer announced plans to fix the game’s battle pass. Blizzard will implement the changes in Overwatch 2’s second season, which will launch in December.
The game’s creators previously said they want the battle pass to offer “overwhelming, obvious value.” However, fans have only been enraged over expensive skins and disappointing freebies since its launch. The community was angry over the price of Halloween skins that would’ve taken a year to obtain for free. Many were also outraged that new heroes were locked behind the battle pass.
Blizzard finally listened to its community’s dissatisfaction and revealed plans to improve the game. On Thursday, Overwatch executive producer Jared Neuss said the company was not satisfied with the current state of rewards and progression in Overwatch 2.
“There’s a lot we like about it — knocking out a bunch of daily/weekly challenges or getting something new for a hero you love can feel great! But we also recognize that today’s experience has opportunity for improvement that we need to focus on,” Neuss said.
Blizzard wants players to feel rewarded for playing the game and achieve new accomplishments besides Competitive Rank and Battle Pass levels. The company plans to change Overwatch 2’s rewards structure to fulfill these goals.
Blizzard wants each event to offer a free skin that players can obtain by playing. The developer will continue its Twitch drops programs where players can get skins and in-game items.
“While we’re working on the long-term plans, we want upcoming seasons to feel more rewarding than Season 1,” Neuss added.
For the company’s long-term plan, Blizzard is working on battle pass changes, additional Challenges and play-focused progression systems, which will arrive in Season 3.
Blizzard addresses long queue time
The devs also plan to fix the queue time issue where players have to wait around 11 minutes when playing as a Tank or DPS. The waiting time is shorter, only around two minutes, if they pick a support hero. However, Overwatch 2 players are reluctant to touch support heroes.
Blizzard will implement more accurate queue-time estimates as a temporary fix. The developer is also going to experiment with adding extra Battle Pass XP rewards for players who play as support as an incentive. Neuss said the team had many ideas they wanted to experiment with, including targeted support hero reworks and game system updates.
Neuss said they would also adjust the matchmaking system, making it better at determining a player’s skill tier and division. They have implemented some changes but will add further improvements at the beginning of Season 2.
“We recognize there are aspects of the experience that we need to improve. The team is full of folks who live and breathe comp, so making this mode feel dynamic and fair is a high priority,” Neuss said.
Blizzard has changed several heroes like Genji and D.Va to be more balanced. The team is already working on other heroes’ changes that will be released in Season 2. However, the devs want to wait and see how the current changes impact the gameplay before implementing more alterations.
“Season 2 is right around the corner, and we have a ton of awesome stuff planned (you saw the Ramattra reveal, right?!). We’ll be sharing lots more on what’s coming in our second season very, very soon,” Neuss said.
