Overwatch 2’s battle pass and progression are changing so players ‘feel more rewarded’

Overwatch 2’s launch and inaugural season as a free-to-play game hasn’t always gone to plan. The game’s creators said before the game’s launch they wanted its battle pass to feel like an “overwhelming, obvious value,” but much of the conversation around rewards and cosmetics for Overwatch 2 has been around high-priced skins and underwhelming freebies. That appears to be changing for the game’s second season, which kicks off in December.

New Overwatch executive producer Jared Neuss said in a blog post Thursday that Blizzard “aren’t completely satisfied with how everything feels right now,” when it comes to 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. “We want you to feel more rewarded just for sitting down and playing. We want you to have new accomplishments to chase outside of your Competitive Rank and Battle Pass level.”

To accomplish that, Neuss said, Blizzard is changing Overwatch 2’s rewards structure “so that each event has a skin you can earn by playing, in addition to the other cosmetic rewards we already offer.” (Overwatch 2’s first event, Halloween Terror 2022, did not reward players with much beyond some titles, voices lines, and XP.) Twitch drops, where players watch content creators streaming Overwatch 2, and get free cosmetics for that viewership, will also continue, Neuss said.

“While we’re working on the long-term plans, we want upcoming seasons to feel more rewarding than Season 1,” he added. More free skins and increased battle pass rewards will likely go a long way to meeting that goal.

Neuss also hinted at “a mix of Battle Pass changes, more interesting Challenges to pursue, and more exciting play-focused progression systems” coming in season 3, which would likely kick off in February 2023. The game’s weekly challenges in particular have been a point of contention for players, because that’s how Overwatch 2 doles out its free, in-game currency, Overwatch Coins.

In the near term, it sounds like Blizzard will also tweak XP rewards for the battle pass for players who queue in a support role (or all roles, which winds up being support) in an attempt to address overly long queue times for other roles (tank and damage).

Neuss added that Blizzard is also working on ideas related to the support role to make it “more fun and more rewarding to play.” That includes “targeted support hero reworks, game system updates, and even some role-wide changes to improve support quality of life.”

Season 2 of Overwatch 2 starts on Dec. 6. The second season will bring a new hero to the game, the tank Ramattra, a new map, and a new battle pass.