Overwatch 2 Battle Pass: Is It Worth It?

Overwatch 2 has officially launched and fully pivoted to a free-to-play model, doing away with the price tag associated with 2016’s Overwatch. Now, any players seeking to get involved with Overwatch 2 can do so for the grand price of absolutely nothing, but there is a new addition to Overwatch 2 that costs real-world money. While you don’t need to pay upfront for the game, there is an Overwatch 2 battle pass that now exists as an optional extra – but is it worth the money?

For years, Overwatch stood at the forefront of the age-old loot box debate. Now, that’s a thing of the past, as Blizzard has made the ultimate decision to remove loot boxes, instead putting in place the Overwatch 2 battle pass, which sees players rank up linearly, unlocking all kinds of content as they go. It’s a tried and tested model that exists in so many games, but does it have a place in the world of Overwatch 2?

Read on to find out everything you need to know about the Overwatch 2 battle pass, including whether or not it’s even worth your time, effort, and money.

‘Is The Overwatch 2 Battle Pass Worth It?’

Image Credit: Blizzard

With the Overwatch 2 free-to-play model now being in full effect, players wonder if they should invest in the Overwatch 2 battle pass. As the biggest of all the Overwatch 2 changes, the introduction of the battle pass brings the game into the current operating model of choice – putting out a free game but charging players periodically to traverse a seasonal battle pass. It’s the same format seen in the likes of Call of Duty: Warzone and Fortnite, and it has worked remarkably well up until now.

Now, every player has the ability to level up through the Overwatch 2 battle pass, but they’ll only unlock the items hidden behind the paywall if they purchase the Premium battle pass. Like other games, Overwatch 2 does give some items away for free in the battle pass, but in truth, these free items are relatively poor. There’s definitely nothing meaningful to be unlocked, and those that pay for the Premium battle pass get a much better deal overall.

From end-to-end, the Overwatch 2 battle pass features 80 tiers, costing around $10, or whatever your local equivalent is. It’s 1,000 ‘Overwatch Coins’, and that price is expected to remain the same with every passing season. As per the traditional model, an all-new battle pass will be introduced once every few weeks, and players will be expected to purchase a new battle pass every time it resets.

So, is the Overwatch 2 battle pass worth it?

What Do You Get In The OW2 Battle Pass?

Kiriko is unlocked with the purchase of the Premium battle pass (Image Credit: Blizzard)

Firstly, it’s important to stress that most players are buying the Overwatch 2 battle pass to gain access to Kiriko, one of Overwatch 2’s new heroes. When the Premium battle pass is purchased, Kiriko is immediately unlocked, which is one of the biggest bonuses. Admittedly, this is quite a reasonably-priced battle pass, and it does allow players to unlock a lot of content, even if it is almost entirely cosmetic.

From skins and calling cards to emblems and experience boosts, the Overwatch 2 battle pass contains the typical types of content any game features in its own respective battle pass. So, if you’re the kind of player that wants to gallivant around the best Overwatch 2 maps flaunting the latest and greatest skins, then the battle pass is a worthy acquisition.

It must be said that given the game is now free-to-play, purchasing the Premium battle pass isn’t much of a sacrifice. If you’re investing enough time in the game to actually rank up and unlock the items contained within the pass, then it’s a no-brainer. There’s a tactic that some people adopt, whereupon they play as much as they can, see how far they get, and if there’s anything in the battle pass that they’d want before the timer runs out, they simply buy it and unlock everything in one go.

It should also be stressed that, technically, not every Overwatch 2 battle pass will cost you real-world money. It was explained by Blizzard that Overwatch Coins can be earned through in-game challenges, and at the rate that they can be earned, a player will be able to buy the Premium battle pass every second season using tokens they’ve unlocked for playing the game.

Should You Buy The Overwatch 2 Battle Pass?

Ultimately, it’s entirely up to you whether or not you buy the Overwatch 2 battle pass, but it certainly seems worthwhile. Even if you’re not a hardcore Overwatch 2 esports fan, learning every spot and playing with a wide array of heroes, there’s still plenty of good content to unlock in the battle pass.

If you do invest in the battle pass, you’ll be set to unlock items such as:

• Kiriko
• D.Va’s legendary EDM skin
• Cybermari weapon charm (Epic)
• 20% XP boost

And if you really, really don’t want to wait around, you can invest in 2,200 Overwatch Coins and buy the Premium battle pass and twenty tiers of instant progress. The Season One battle pass is currently live, and from December 6th, Season Two will drop, bringing with it a whole new battle pass. There’s no knowing what’ll come after that, but you can bet your last dollar that at the start of February 2023, we’ll see Season Three.

The decision is yours.