New Heroes Are Coming to 'Overwatch 2' With Some Old Characters to Be Unlocked

The Overwatch 2 launch is just over the horizon. Newcomers and Overwatch veterans alike have a nice little cast of new characters with three additions to the roster. From the soldiered-up Sojourn to Junker Queen's end-of-the-world swagger and Kiriko's Kitsune healing, these are the three new heroes coming to Overwatch 2.

Overwatch 2 is launching on Oct. 4 in a new free-to-play model. Moving Overwatch over to free-to-play includes the decision to implement a two-tier Battle Pass model that will include a free and a paid for Battle Pass. Additionally, new players will have to unlock some of the first game's character roster in addition to new characters in a seeming step back from what was offered from the first game's character roster.

Overwatch is a hero shooter where players choose from a diverse roster of characters that are broken down into three distinct classes: tank, damage, or support. The three new heroes cover all three of the hero classes and are each sure to be welcome additions to the franchise for both their lore and gameplay contributions.

The three new characters for Season One of Overwatch 2 cover all the bases for familiar characters for each of the three classes with a unique twist. Sojourn, Junker Queen, and Kiriko are each sure to bring interesting alternatives to already established roles in the each of the game's classes.

Sojourn will probably be the new standard-bearer for the damage class, embodying many of the stronger elements of characters like Soldier 76 with a few new tricks up her sleeve (or robot arm). Sojourn wields a fully automatic beam rifle that also features a charge shot that seems like it will pierce through enemies, judging by the character's cinematic trailer.

Sojourn's cyborg limbs also include an arm cannon that shoots out a vortex that pulls enemies into one crowd. This is all topped off with Sojourn's powerful slide that's sure to open up plenty of interesting mobility options.

Hailing from Junkertown in Australia, Junker Queen is joining the team to bring down the ax on the competition. Styled as an aggressive tank hero with a focus on melee and close ranged combat, Junker Queen comes to Overwatch to sit on the frontline and inflict anti-healing with her ax.

In addition to being healed by DPS buildup, Junker Queen seems to be a close range damage power house similar to Roadhog with a move-set focused on pulling enemies in with her knife attack and then dealing damage with shotgun blast. From the trailer, it seems like Junker Queens ultimate links her ax to her spinning arm band for what looks like a devastating charge attack.

The third and final hero coming to Overwatch 2 is Kiriko, a healer whose past is closely linked to Hanzo and Genji. Kiriko is looking to be one of the quicker and more mobile support heroes with her wall climbing and teleportation abilities. Kiriko uses her Kitsune spirit to deal out healing and protection buffs along with a set of throwing kunai to deal out damage in a pinch.

One of the things that the Battle Pass system brings to Overwatch 2 is that players will need to put in some effort to unlock new and now old characters. In addition to needing to grind through 55 levels to unlock new characters, some of the old Overwatch characters will only be made available after completing around 100 matches for first-time players.

This is in addition to some game modes and chat being locked away until after a certain amount of play. Though it seems some older Overwatch characters will have to be unlocked after 100 matches, new characters to Overwatch 2 can be immediately unlocked by paying $10 for the Premium Tier Battle Pass.