Every Overwatch 2 hero will be available for free to everyone soon – including Venture

The entire Overwatch 2 hero roster will become available to every player in Season 10, including the game’s upcoming DPS hero Venture.

The Overwatch 2 team is removing the need to unlock heroes from Battle Passes or buy a premium version in Season 10. This was revealed in a March 19 developer update from the devs. This means that every player will have the entire roster open to them once the season launches, effectively ending the practice of putting characters behind a paywall or timed unlocked. 

This will also go for the upcoming DPS hero Venture who will be released next season. This means every player will be able to play them as soon as Season 10 launches. All players will also keep the roster into the future, and it will apply to all future heroes too. 

Ever since Overwatch 2 launched, locked heroes have been a hotly contested issue. In a competitive game so focused on swapping and countering, it’s always been awkward to have newer heroes locked behind battle passes or force newer accounts to slowly unlock the entire roster. That will no longer be the case.

In a Dexerto interview with game director Aaron Keller, we asked why this change happened and if the team had regrets about putting heroes in the Battle Pass to begin with. Keller said simply: “It’s what’s best for players and it’s what’s best for the game.”

He went on to elaborate: “When you’re developing a way a game is going to fund itself, it can get really complex fast. I think originally we had some worries about whether Overwatch 2 as a purely cosmetic game, when you have the ability to get cosmetics for a whole roster of heroes, was going to be successful.” 

“But putting any type of gameplay behind a paywall – it can be a competitive advantage for players.”

“I think we did a lot to try to mitigate that. We allowed players to unlock heroes in the free battle pass, we had challenges for it. We also had an idea that Overwatch 2 would have less counters in it so this problem could be mitigated. Not all of those things we tried were as effective as we wanted them to be. So, after a year and a half of releasing seasons with heroes in them and without heroes in them, I think we had enough data to see that the game can be successful without having heroes in the Battle Pass. 

“We just also think this is the right thing to be doing for all of our players.”

This is a significant change to Overwatch 2’s economy, and it will benefit players in the long run. Having the roster available to every player makes sure the game remains fair – and it will be exciting for everyone to get hands-on with Venture on day one of the season.