Overwatch Rumored To Go Free-To-Play

Rumor has it that Overwatch might be going down the free-to-play route. And while there has yet to be any confirmation whatsoever from Blizzard, it is believed that this plan may come in the near future.

The popular team-based character-driven shooter is heavily suspected to obtain a sequel announcement at the upcoming BlizzCon 2019, which is Blizzard’s annual event for its fans. Despite the controversies the studio has faced in the past few weeks, including the supposed boycott of the event, a good number of fans are still looking forward to new game reveals.

In a report, various rumors have surfaced indicating that Overwatch could soon become a free-to-play game. Interestingly, this narrative came from an often-accurate leaker of the game known as Metro_OW. The latter even suggested that this move might be announced by Blizzard at BlizzCon 2019. Or, if not, might occur until Overwatch 2 gets released.

With the original title just having been released on the Nintendo Switch, the move to make it free-to-play is not just plausible from a business perspective. After all, the studio already charged users about $39.99 for the game's Legacy Edition. This move will only ruin their reputation as a company, so to speak.

Still, it cannot be denied that there is a possibility of making the original Overwatch game a free-to-play model. And if this is the route Blizzard wants to take, it surely has anticipated the many backlashes it will get from fans who will be worried about continued, excessive monetization policies in the title. This also leaves us to wonder what exactly Overwatch 2’s route will be. There are talks about it having a subscription-based live service Battle Pass system instead of the now-traditional route of upfront payments and in-game microtransactions.

Considering that these are rumors, you should take them with a grain of salt. If anything, it is interesting to see how much of an impact the free-to-play route will bring to Blizzard as a company.