Is Overwatch 2 Free-To-Play in 2025?

• What is Overwatch 2?
• Is Overwatch 2 Free To Play?
• How Has This Changed Overwatch? 
• What About The Meta?
• Should You Play Overwatch 2? 

When the first PvP hero-based first-person-shooter offering from Blizzard dropped in 2016, it would be fair to say that the larger gaming community had never expected what they would receive.

To say that Overwatch 2 wasn’t pretty far removed from the original game would be a little bit of a misguided statement.

Sure, the base might have remained the same, but under the hood, this game was something very different, and not something that many anticipated it to be. 

Is Overwatch 2 Next In Series to Overwatch 1?

For the uninitiated, Overwatch 2 is the long-anticipated follow-up to Blizzard’s 2016 smash hit hero shooter, Overwatch.

The original was a PvP-only game wherein 2 teams of 6 characters each fought for domination in a variety of game modes. 

The characters were divided into categories based on one of three roles that they could play on the battlefield; Tank, Damage and Support. The role of the Tank was to be, well, a moving tank, the Damage frontlined the attack and provided the bulk of the damage, and the Support kept both of those roles, and themselves alive. 

However, things are pretty different in Overwatch 2.

The first thing, is the teams. Overwatch 2 reduced the number of players on a team from 6 to 5, allowing for faster, more frenetic, and shorter matches.

Team composition, as we know it since Overwatch, is strongly affected by this. 

While you had two Tanks, two Damage characters and two Support characters, Overwatch 2 shifts the baton to a 5-man system in which the ideal composition is one Tank. two Damage characters and the same two Supports. 

Is Overwatch 2 Free To Play?

Yes, Overwatch 2 is absolutely free to play for the base game.

Is Overwatch 2 free for Overwatch 1 players?

Well yes, since the entire game shifted to a free-to-play model, it is available for every single legacy player as well. 

There is however a Seasonal Pass as well as monetized skins and other cosmetics items in the game for you to purchase. 

The free-to-play shift has come as an answer to the industry standard, as most of the shooters of Overwatch’s kind have shifted to this model to increase the base player count as well as consistently add content to monetize it down the line and earn their revenue with that. 

And will Overwatch 2 be free forever?

As it stands, it likely will. Games such as Destiny 2, Halo Infinite and others have made it look like the F2P model is risky, but with the fanbase and the AAA backing, there is no reason to believe that it cannot be free forever. 

How Has This Changed Overwatch?

In a variety of ways, Overwatch no longer has the patient buildup and the quick handicapping of the enemy team, which was a slow and painful process when both teams had two Tanks.

Now, the process has shifted, and no more can one Tank be dedicated towards protection of the Support cast while the other charges forward with the Damage ones.

This is intended to force faster and more decisive plays that completely turn the tide in one fell swoop. 

Along with that, there are several changes to the cast and crew of Overwatch. Doomfist, one of the premier Damage characters in the original game, has now been shifted into the Tank role, with a change in the kit that justifies the role.

New characters such as Kiriko and Sojourn have been added, with both of them being very strong meta picks at launch. 

What About the Meta? 

Overwatch 2 has started off with a bang, and currently, the meta stands at the same starting point; a quick crippling of the Support cast, and faster movement and greater DPS being a priority. 

With the ideal team composition being Winston, Reaper, Sojourn, Kiriko/Ana and Lucio/Baptiste, this was the intention of Blizzard reflected in the meta.

Winston was great at covering long distances and quickly blocking sightlines as well as being a continuous nuisance. 

Reaper was great for flanking, had massive damage at close range, and was the best anti-tanker (he still is). Sojourn was borderline overpowered throughout Season 1 and had a burst-as-well-as-consistent DPS style, which benefited her team a lot.

With Ana or Kiriko, you either got fantastic healing, a longer radius of effectiveness (Ana), or a faster-moving hero who could be with you in seconds (Kiriko).

Lucio was a great option to get to capture points faster with his speed boost ability and is still the best passive healer in the game. 

Should You Play Overwatch 2?

So that begs the question, is Overwatch 2 for you? 

If you are into fast and furious FPS games which also require constant teamplay and communication to become better, Overwatch 2 is still the perfect playground for you to stretch your legs. 

But if you have a heart that is concerned with more grounded and realistic shooters like Rainbow Six Siege, Overwatch 2 might not be fancied by you all that much.