Overwatch 2 players who’re brand-new to the franchise — which means those that by no means performed the unique Overwatch — will want to spend appreciable time with the sequel to unlock the sport’s present roster of 32 heroes. Blizzard Leisure stated Tuesday that as half of Overwatch 2’s “first-time consumer expertise,” new players will unlock the sport’s modes and all unique Overwatch heroes “over the course of roughly 100 matches.”

Blizzard cited “constant suggestions from new players feeling overwhelmed by quite a few sport modes and heroes” in a weblog publish explaining how the sport maker plans to accommodate an inflow of newcomers with (*2*)Overwatch’s free-to-play transition.

Overwatch 2’s first-time consumer expertise will shortly unlock all sport modes and in-game chat, Blizzard stated, however new players will want to win 50 matches in Fast Play mode to entry Aggressive video games and full about 100 matches to unlock nearly all of the sport’s characters.

Blizzard stated most of these new-player restrictions are lifted when taking part in in a bunch “so new players can workforce up with their mates at any time to play nearly any sport modes,” with Aggressive mode being the exception. Players transferring from the unique Overwatch to Overwatch 2 will have entry to 34 out of the sport’s 35 heroes at launch. (New assist hero Kiriko is additional restricted by Overwatch 2’s battle move.)

Present Overwatch players may count on some adjustments in 2, as issues like participant portrait borders, participant ranges, and Aggressive talent tiers will not show in sport. Overwatch’s Endorsements are additionally being streamlined, from three choices down to one.

Overwatch 2 players of all stripes will additionally face a brand new requirement: Beginning Oct. 4, (*2*)Overwatch 2’s launch day, players will want to have a telephone quantity hooked up to their Battle.web account to play. That characteristic known as SMS Defend, and is described as an extra layer of safety aimed toward stopping dishonest and different unhealthy participant behaviors. Blizzard says that the telephone quantity hooked up to a Battle.web account “can’t be used on a number of accounts at the identical time, and players can’t use the identical telephone quantity to create a number of accounts,” and that “sure varieties of numbers, together with pre-paid and VOIP, can’t be used for SMS Defend.”

Activision Blizzard plans to implement the identical SMS Defend system for Name of Obligation: Fashionable Warfare 2, which additionally launches in October.