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Overwatch Add-On Characters And Maps Will Be Free
Blizzard continues to surprise us with its Overwatch announcements. At Blizzcon we learned that the game isn’t going to be free-to-play, defying expectations. It’s also coming to both Xbox One and PlayStation 4 alongside the PC version in spring 2016.
Today, game director Jeff Kaplan shares another huge piece of information: Blizzard won’t be segmenting the community with DLC. That’s not to say there won’t be add-ons. In fact, the team is already planning new heroes and maps. You just won’t have to pay for them.
“We have ideas for additional maps and heroes that we’d like to add to the game,” Kaplan says. “So we thought about this and decided the best way to add them to the game is to patch them in as free content and not as DLC. Hopefully that alleviates some concern that people’s have.”
He suggests that there are already hints about unrevealed heroes beyond the 21 coming at launch. As for how many additional characters and when how soon after launch they’ll arrive? That’s not confirmed yet.
For more on Overwatch, check out our coverage from Blizzcon.
[Source: Overwatch on YouTube]
Our Take
So what does this mean for Overwatch? A lot of good things, at least based on the information we have right now. If the community stays unified, it helps with the game’s longevity. However, I do expect that Blizzard will find a way to monetize the game. Skins, effects, and other cosmetics are ripe targets. Provided there’s no impact to gameplay, this seems like an ideal scenario.
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