With the release of Overwatch 2 next month, Blizzard is making some pretty major changes to the way the game deals with progression – and not all of them are sitting well with long-time fans of the franchise. Specifically, it’s been revealed that in order to unlock new hero Kiriko for free, you’ll need to reach tier 55 on the game’s Battle Pass.
Now obviously it’s impossible to estimate exactly how long that will take until the title is out, but we do know you’ll need 10,000 XP just to reach tier two – and you only get 9,000 XP for completing three daily challenges. Of course, there’ll surely be various other ways to earn XP, but we’d still expect tier 55 to take many hours to achieve.
Of course, you’ll be able to purchase Kiriko outright if you want to – this is just for those who want to play for free. For example, if you purchase the premium track of the Battle Pass, you’ll unlock the newcomer immediately, and all the additional rewards available as you level up, including one epic skin, five legendary skins, and one customisable mythic skin.
It’s probably worth reiterating that Overwatch 2 will be free-to-play, so it needs to make money somehow. However, some fans are frustrated that there are now strings attached to the new heroes, when this wasn’t the case before. Fortunately, if you already own Overwatch, then you’ll be entitled to redeem a Founder’s Pack, which includes instant access to Kiriko anyway. But moving forwards, you’re probably going to need to come to terms with these changes to progression.
