Gamers remember the fiasco that is EA's Star Wars: Battlefront 2, a game that previously required players to play the game for 4,528 hours to unlock everything in it or spend $2,100 to buy in-game currency to get them immediately.
Somehow, Blizzard Entertainment is doing something similar.
The popular game developer has recently announced that it would be locking away the original Overwatch characters for new players to the game to unlock while playing Overwatch 2.
Overwatch 2 is expected to be live worldwide on Blizzard's Battle.net game launcher on Oct. 4, at approximately 12:00 pm, per Blizzard's blog post.
Overwatch 2 First Time User Experience Details
Blizzard's Overwatch team mentioned in a blog post that it is introducing a new system called First Time User Experience (FTUE) exclusively for players new to Overwatch.
According to the post, Blizzard wants to "gradually welcome" new players to Overwatch 2 by giving them a limited set of heroes and game modes to get used to.
To be specific, players who made their Overwatch accounts on or after Overwatch 2's Oct. 4 release date will go through the system.
The game developer allegedly saw "consistent feedback" from new players that they felt overwhelmed by the numerous game modes and heroes in the first Overwatch game.
As a result, the new FTUE system divides Overwatch 2's offerings into two phases: the first phase is made up of mostly game modes that a new players can unlock while they learn the game's mechanics.
The ability to chat in-game is also restricted during this phase but can be unlocked when a new player progresses far enough into the first FTUE phase.
Meanwhile, the second phase contains all of the original Overwatch heroes, which a new player can unlock by completing approximately 100 matches.
However, Blizzard didn't mention if the 100 matches include the first phase or if a new player has to slog through all 100 just to unlock every original Overwatch hero.
Gamespot and Kotaku mentioned in their articles that new players are required to go through all 100 matches to unlock every original hero.
This requirement means that new players will need to play at least 2,500 minutes to unlock every original Overwatch character, excluding the time needed to acquire everything during the FTUE's first phase, as a match usually lasts around 15 to 25 minutes, per Rankiing.
Thankfully, Blizzard previously announced that Overwatch 2 would be a free-to-play game, and as such, the original heroes will not require in-game currency to unlock them.
Other First Time User Experience Restrictions
Game mode and hero restrictions aside, new players can go around these restrictions by joining a group of friends, as doing so will have them lose most FTUE restrictions.
As a result, new players can play any game mode Overwatch 2 offers while in a group. This loophole will not work in competitive mode as new players must complete 50 Quick Play matches before the game allows them to join one.
According to the game developer, this limiter is intended to give players "time to prepare for the higher expectations that come with Competitive [mode]." It will also give long-term players the assurance they need for them to not feel discouraged by players new to the competitive scene.
