Overwatch 2 brings back old battle passes with flexible rewards
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Blizzard is permanently reviving Overwatch 2's earlier limited-time battle passes as purchasable content from next month, reversing years of player frustration over cosmetics that had previously vanished after their original season ended. Some rewards from those old passes will not be carried over, but the move forms part of a wider push by the developer to make previously exclusive items more accessible to the player base.
The change arrives alongside Season 4's redesigned battle pass system, which uses multiple tracks to give players greater control over the rewards they earn, including the ability to swap out or replace skins they don't want rather than being locked into a fixed set. Product director Chris McCabe pointed to the overhaul as a direct response to sustained community feedback about the rigidity of the previous seasonal model.
- Old Overwatch 2 battle passes return permanently from next month, not all rewards included
- New multi-track pass lets players swap out unwanted skins
- Blizzard says changes respond to long-standing player feedback
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Overwatch 2 is Blizzard's free-to-play team shooter, where players earn cosmetic items like character skins through seasonal "battle passes" – paid tracks of rewards that unlock as you play. Historically, once a season ended, its battle pass and the exclusive items tied to it disappeared for good, which meant players who missed a season, or joined later, had no way to get those items. This scarcity became a long-running source of frustration within the game's community.
Blizzard is the developer and publisher behind Overwatch 2. Chris McCabe, the game's product director, has been the public face of recent changes to how rewards work, citing player feedback as the driving force. The wider context is a series of adjustments Blizzard has been making to loosen up its cosmetics system and give players more say over what they earn, rather than locking them into fixed, one-off reward tracks.
This matters because battle passes and cosmetics are a significant part of how live-service games like Overwatch 2 keep players engaged and generate revenue, so changes to how rewards are earned or made available affect a large, active player base. It also reflects a broader trend across online games of publishers reconsidering artificial scarcity in response to sustained community pressure.
Coverage
- PC Gamer — Overwatch’s old battle passes are finally coming back permanently starting next month, but some of the rewards will be left out
- GameSpot — Overwatch’s Battle Pass Overhaul Will Let You Swap Out Skins You Don’t Want