Blizzard has indicated that with Overwatch 2, the developer has changed its hero design and balancing approach so that heroes don't necessarily 'hard counter' each other anymore, with the goal of having a much wider range of heroes be viable at any given time. Players have raised concerns about this new system, arguing that it will make it harder for teams to swap to heroes that counter the opposing team's strategy since some players in matches won't always have access to every hero in the game.

Also, when heroes come out, they'll be unavailable in Competitive matchmaking for three weeks so that players have some time to unlock them (and also so that the developers can make balance adjustments if the hero is too powerful right out of the gate). Notably, Blizzard has confirmed that all new heroes will be unlockable on the Free reward track at Tier 55 on each of Overwatch 2's Battle Passes. Here's what's available as part of Overwatch 2 Season 1's Free Battle Pass reward track: The former are available to all players but offer fewer rewards, while the latter, more rewarding tracks are only available to players that purchase Overwatch 2 Season Passes.

Overwatch 2's Battle Passes have both Free and Premium reward tracks.

Free Battle of Heroes