Mohamed Hassan 
Overwatch 2 may be looking to repair its grindy reputation and will make major changes to its battle pass in Season 10 starting with making new heroes free, starting with Venture.
Overwatch 2 didn’t get off to the best start and has one of the worst ratings on Steam, with an “overwhelmingly negative” standing after 250,000 reviews. Players criticized the lack of a promised PvE mode, character imbalance, and aggressive monetization. This latter point was especially noticeable with users having to pay $15 for PvE missions as well as character skins that could cost up to $40.
But the most significant change from Overwatch 1 was that players had to grind for characters by leveling up their battle pass. The original game made every new character available to all players without prerequisites. Locking them in a battle pass meant that players who didn’t have the time to grind found themselves at a disadvantage, effectively transforming a major esports title into a pay-to-win endeavor. This will finally change starting with Season 10 and the release of the hero Venture.
Overwatch 2 Season 10 makes all heroes free, starting with Venture
Starting with Season 10 on April 16, 2024, Overwatch 2 will offer instant access to all heroes, rather than gating them in a battle pass. The season will also introduce the new hero Venture, a new way to unlock mythic skins, and a limited-time test of the upcoming Clash mode.
“We want all of you to have the opportunity to play Venture as soon as they are released…Starting with Venture, heroes will no longer be unlocked through the battle pass. This includes all previous Overwatch 2 heroes,” game director Aaron Keller said.
The retrospective treatment also extends to the new Mythic Shop, where players will be able to pick up cosmetics from previous seasons. Previously, players had to grind through weekly quests to earn in-game currency for buying skins or paying real money, while a premium hero skin has been available as a battle pass reward.
Keller also added on his social media that players will also be able to buy golden weapons, not just mythic skins, and advises them to save on competitive currency in the meantime.
The dev update also confirmed that Blizzard is running a limited-time playtest for the upcoming Clash mode on the Hanaoka map next season. The new upcoming Clash mode debuts later this year along with two new maps that were first revealed at BlizzCon 2023. Clash is akin to capture the flag but with points instead of flags. Blizzard will give players a chance to test it first along with some other big plans for the future of the game.
Overwatch 2 Season 11 adds Runasapi map, reworks Colosseo
Season 11 will include a new push map called Runasapi and rework the Colosseo map to be more fun and engaging.
Blizzard will also introduce new and regular changes to Overwatch 2 in the upcoming seasons inspired by the core mechanics change in Season 9 which added self-healing to all characters. However, Keller didn’t make it explicit how this will happen.
Keller delved into how Overwatch 2 will handle maps moving forward. He said the basic plan is to add at least “three new maps” every year and to release one every other season. He also discussed overhauling existing maps to be as fun as possible. To that end, Keller teased that there will be a season after Season 12 that is completely focused on map tweaks
The development team is still reportedly undecided on which maps will receive this treatment, but Keller teased that Dorado, Circuit Royal, Havana, and Numbani are being looked at. Dorado is among the most-hated maps in the game because of its abundance of high-ground points and paths from which players can be flanked.
