Overwatch 2 reveals Season 1 details, including new hero and how battle pass works

Blizzard has offered an in-depth look at what players can expect from the first season of Overwatch 2, including the official reveal of the game’s third launch hero.

As we very much already knew, the last new hero coming to the game on day one is Kiriko, a support character from Japan who attacks with kunai and seems way too into foxes. While we don’t have a full rundown of all her abilities and how they work just yet, you can see her in action in a new gameplay trailer.

Kiriko is the first hero who won’t be unlocked as soon as you boot up Overwatch 2, instead arriving as part of the Season 1 battle pass. (She will, however, be instantly unlocked for anyone who owns the first Overwatch.)

Thanks so some new details about the battle pass, we also know quite a bit more about how hero unlocks will work, for Kiriko and beyond. If you pony up for the premium track of the pass, which costs 1,000 Overwatch Coins (roughly $10), you’ll get the pass’s hero right away. If you instead use the free track, you’ll have to get all the way up to level 55 to unlock a new hero.

If you miss out on a battle pass entirely, Blizzard says there will still be a way to unlock its hero, either through a direct purchase in the shop or through “free challenges,” per a Eurogamer report, though there’s no word on how much a hero will cost or what those challenges would look like.

Since free players won’t have access to a hero at the start of the season, new characters won’t be available in competitive play right away.

Overwatch 2 seasons will run for nine weeks at a time, and not every season will offer a new hero. Seasons 1 and 2 will both expand the roster, but after that Blizzard plans to introduce new heroes on an alternating basis, releasing them only in the even numbered seasons.

Here’s a quick trailer running through what you can expect for Season 1, including some of the cosmetics and a new limited-time event for Halloween called Junkenstein’s Revenge: Wrath of the Bride.

And here’s a list of the rewards offered by the Season 1 battle pass.

Free track:

• Kiriko (at tier 55)
• 2 Legendary Skins
• 2 Weapon Charms
• 2 Souvenirs
• 1 Highlight Intro
• 15 additional items (list types, emotes, etc)

Premium track:

• Immediate access to Kiriko
• 15% XP Battle Pass Boost
• 1 Mythic Skin
• 5 Legendary Skins
• 2 Epic Skins
• 3 Play of the Game Intros
• 4 Weapon Charms
• 3 Emotes
• 3 Souvenirs
• 6 Poses
• 6 Name Cards
• 8 Player Icons
• 11 Voice Lines
• 12 Sprays

For more info on how all this works, you can check out Blizzard’s official blog post.

Overwatch 2 launches into early access October 4th on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Windows PC.