Overwatch 2 battle pass leak claims new heroes can take up to “15 hours” to unlock

A new round of Overwatch 2 leaks have suggested it might take players roughly 15 hours to unlock future heroes without paying a premium for instant battle pass unlocks.

With Overwatch 2’s October 4 release date drawing near, leaks are continuously slipping through the cracks. From Blizzard directly to various streamers, we’ve seen everything from battle pass details to full-fledged animated shorts appear online in the past week.

Just four days ago a quickly-deleted Watchpoint Pack description update on BattleNet let slip that not only is the next hero named Kiriko, but that players must unlock them through the Season 1 battle pass.

In purchasing the ‘Premium’ battle pass for the season, you can “automatically” gain access to the new Support. But if you’d rather not invest real money, the character has to be earned manually.

While Overwatch Commercial Lead Jon Spector soon confirmed all future heroes will be in free Tiers, not the premium track, many began to speculate just how tedious the unpaid pathway might be.

Although nothing has yet been confirmed by the developers, a new leak has seemingly clarified a few details. Obviously, take this intel with a grain of salt for the time being, but here’s what the 4Chan post sought to reveal.

4Chan Battle Pass leak – take it with a grain of salt
byu/The-Ignotis inOverwatch

Battle Passes in Overwatch 2 will be priced at $10 USD (or 1,000 Overwatch coins), according to the leaker. By paying this fee, players will allegedly unlock Kiriko right away along with a Legendary skin to boot.

However, for those looking to avoid the costs, Kiriko can be found at Tier 20, the anonymous leaker claimed. “It takes about 12-15 hours on average to grind to [Tier] 20 depending on your winrate and what mode you’re playing. Quick Play is the fastest. Arcade takes longer.”

If you miss out on a given season and thus, miss out on unlocking a new hero, you will still have access down the line, they continued.

For instance, when Season 2 rolls around, the Season 1 battle pass will no longer be in effect to help you acquire Kiriko. A permanent challenge will be implemented once the season is over. For the upcoming Support, this challenge allegedly involves winning 25 matches in Quick Play as a Support.

Again, this information is yet to be confirmed by official sources, so we’ll have to wait and see if this holds true. With the full release of Overwatch 2 just weeks away, however, we won’t be waiting much longer to find out.