With Overwatch 2’s development ramping up and a 2022 release looking more likely, players and fans have been calling for Blizzard to make the game free to play, similar to rivals Apex Legends and Valorant.
Back in 2016, Overwatch launched prior to the free to play craze that swept the industry with battle royale titles such as Fortnite and Apex Legends. Now, in 2021, seeing how successful the model has been, a lot of people want to see Overwatch 2 take the same approach.
The main complication that arises from going free to play is the fact that Overwatch 2 has a PVE story campaign, but regarding the competitive multiplayer component, many feel free to play is the answer.
In a segment of the PlatChat podcast, Overwatch League pros Matthew ‘Super’ DeLisi and Indy ‘Space’ Halpern explained why the sequel going free to play would be the “best” decision. (segment begins at 49:23)
Pros say Overwatch 2 going free to play is the “best move”
“I try to be optimistic, but realistic at the same time. And I feel like with Apex and Valorant, the biggest thing they have going for them, is the fact that it’s free to play,” Super said. “I don’t know if Blizzard has any plans for that, but I feel it would be such a big deal to make Overwatch free to play.”
According to Super, his issue stems from people not wanting to pay $40 or $60 to play Overwatch 2 when other games, that are still being updated, are completely free.
“Realistically, I think that’s probably the best move they can make,” he added, which promoted an agreement from Space.
A lot of players want Overwatch 2 to go free to play.Overwatch F2P will be good for casuals
“The casual gaming base is not going to play Overwatch. Especially because when people first started playing Overwatch and we all paid for it, that was back when people used to buy games,” Halpern noted. “Now, you have these options that are free. You’re not going to pay money to play Overwatch 2 when you already know what Overwatch is.”
Space also explained how the devs were taking a big risk changing the game from 6v6 to 5v5, and if the game is constantly updated and changed, there is a lot of potential, especially with a free to play model.
It’s unclear yet how Blizzard plans to release Overwatch 2, but the OWL will be playing on an early build of OW2 for the upcoming 2022 season in April and according to Dexerto sources, the game could release as early as Spring 2022.
Only time will tell if the game does go free to play, but given the state of the industry, it’s easy to see why many are advocating for it to be.
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