New Heroes and Maps Will Come to Overwatch as Free DLC

The ongoing beta for Overwatch has seen a positive reception from community thus far.  A hero shooter which features over 20 unique characters in a competitive setting, one of the major concerns of the community was in regards to what happens when new characters or maps are added to the game.

Apparently, Blizzard has already landed on a solution to post-launch content for Overwatch.  That solution is going to be to release the new heroes and maps as patched in free content to players.

“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 concerns,” says Jeff Kaplan Game Director on Overwatch.

This way of doing business is something more shooter games should look into.  Adding maps or characters at a premium only splinters the community.  We’ve seen a few shooters take this approach in recent years.  Halo 5, Rainbow Six, and others have adopted a strategy to monetize downloadable content in other ways, by using cosmetic content or “boosters.”

Overwatch is slated for release this Spring on the PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 and will cost $40 for the base version on PC or $60 on consoles.  Overwatch will ship with 21 heroes, and just how Blizzard plans to monetize the shooter in other ways has not been disclosed.