Overwatch 2 will make hero swapping a bigger deal despite locking them behind battle pass

pcgamer.com:

Many Overwatch players were frustrated(opens in new tab) that heroes in the sequel won't be free for everyone like they are in the first game, limiting your ability to swap heroes mid-match. Blizzard's reasoning for the change was that most people don't swap and that the game is designed so that you don't have to as often. Despite this, a new ability that encourages you to change heroes suggests that it will remain an important part of the game.

Blizzard detailed(opens in new tab) a list of balance changes coming to Overwatch 2 when it launches free-to-play in a few weeks. Many of the changes are responses to feedback and testing from the game's two closed betas and the ongoing professional play in the Overwatch League. 

The biggest changes in the list are part of Overwatch 2's new role passives, or buffs given to all heroes across its three roles: tank, damage, and support. In the June beta, damage characters—the most popular role in the game—were given a passive that lets them keep up to 30% of their ultimate charge when the player swaps from one hero to another. This helps encourage players to swap to a better hero when the situation calls for it.

Now, every role will have this passive. If Reinhardt isn't cutting it but you've built up 80% of his ult, you can now swap over to Roadhog and start at 30% charge. Mercy players can put the staff down and pick up Lucio and not reset their progress, too. In the post, Blizzard said the change was requested by players. «After continued testing, we agree, and are making a change so the entire roster should have access to the hero swap passive as we launch,» Blizzard wrote.

The ability encourages players to engage with Overwatch's hero swapping metagame, where heroes have