Overwatch 2: Premium Battle Pass & InGame Shop – this is how Free2Play works
Not only was Overwatch a good team shooter, but it was also a success for Blizzard on almost all fronts. The sales figures were extremely high, the servers were well filled and, at least from the perspective of the Californian developer, the Overwatch League should have been worth it. And the players were also very satisfied at first. Of course, the balancing was complained about here and there, as in every MMO, but apart from that there was only one big point of criticism. New content was added much too slowly.
But you can understand that. After all, Blizzard has hardly made any money from Overwatch for years. No new players means no new sales. And the amount of loot boxes sold in the shop should be very limited. All of that should be different with Overwatch 2. The developers promised a long time ago that they will now deliver significantly more content in a faster time. In order for this to pay off for Blizzard, the financing model must of course be changed. Overwatch 2 is known to be Free2Play. The developers have now also revealed what the monetization should look like.
Free Battle Pass and Premium Battle Pass
Overwatch 2 will have two season passes. One of them will be available to all players for free. The other must be purchased in the new in-game shop.
- The Premium Battle Pass costs 1,000 Overwatch Coins (about 10 euros)
- For 1,200 more coins you immediately unlock the first 20 levels of the Battle Pass
In both Battle Passes, each valid for one season (nine weeks), you can unlock umpteen different things – from emotes to intros to legendary skins. By the way, owners of Overwatch 1 get the Premium Battle Pass of the first season for free. To incentivize, there will be significantly more things to unlock in the Premium Battle Pass. In Season 1, the content will look like this:
In Overwatch 2 there will be a free and a premium season pass.
Source: Blizzard
The Premium Battle Pass will not only have more content, but also exclusive content. For example, the “Mythical Hero Skins” introduced with Overwatch 2 will only be available in the premium version, and there only at the last level. The developers want to emphasize that this is something very special. And of course there are other benefits for paying customers, such as more XP.
If you want to invest a lot, you can also unlock the first 20 levels of the Season Pass directly.
Source: Blizzard
The main sticking point, however, are new heroes. While the Premium Battle Pass gives you instant access, Free2Play players must first unlock the new heroes (level 55 in the Free Battle Pass). According to the developers, this should be possible without any problems during a season – even for infrequent players. The path through the Battle Pass (both free and premium) will be simply through play and is comparable to earning loot boxes in Overwatch 1.
Overwatch Coins for the in-game shop
Rewards that you have not unlocked during a season in the Battle Pass automatically go to the in-game shop, where you can buy them with Overwatch Coins. The exception is the “Mythical Skins”. These are only available through the Premium Battle Pass and there are no plans to ever put them in the shop.
Overwatch Coins are available for real money.
Source: Blizzard
There are also plenty of other cosmetic items in the in-game shop. These can all be bought with the Overwatch Coins – the new currency of Overwatch 2. This in turn can be obtained in two ways.
- You can buy Overwatch Coins with real money or earn them in weekly tasks.
However, the weekly tasks are limited and the developers could not or did not want to reveal how many coins can be earned within the game. However, the individual tasks only grant you low, two-digit coin numbers. The prices of the in-game shop are not yet known either, with the exception of the Battle Pass Premium (1,000 coins, i.e. around 10 euros).
No revolution, no surprises
The monetization of Overwatch 2 does not offer any particularly big surprises, but is based on various other games in the genre. First a season pass and then things go to the shop. According to the developers, there should also be the option of buying the Season Pass later in the season and having the time played counted.
The developers now want to deliver content for Overwatch 2 every nine weeks.
Source: Blizzard
Whether and how well the system is ultimately accepted depends largely on two factors. Can the developers, as announced, deliver enough new and cool content every nine weeks to keep players hooked? But more important will be: How high are the prices? 10 euros for a season pass of 9 weeks doesn’t sound like much. But when absolute moon prices are called in the shop – and the Season Pass is then designed in such a way that most of the content is never reached as a normal person, then it becomes critical.
Exclusive content for paying customers is also not a new phenomenon. Therefore, it is understandable if “Mythical Hero Skins” are only in Premium Battle Pass. This will bother many players, but comes as no surprise. It is much more dangerous that in a hero shooter the heroes have to be unlocked as Free2Play players, while paying customers get access to them immediately and much earlier. That could still fly around the ears of the developers.
Reference-www.buffed.de