Why Overwatch isn’t free-to-play

Everyone was expecting Blizzard’s next big release to go the free-to-play route. Here’s why everyone was wrong.

You’ll need to drop $40 to buy the “base” version of Overwatch for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, or PC, the publisher announced at its BlizzCon fan event earlier today. That’s a lot more than the zero dollars many people were expecting to have to pay for the shooter — especially after Blizzard has found so much success with the Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft card battler and Heroes of the Storm multiplayer online arena battler. Both of those games have always had no price to start playing. Of course, while Overwatch isn’t free, that doesn’t mean it is devoid of microtransactions. Blizzard is adopting the less popular “pay-to-pay” model similar to what Valve has done with its Counter-Strike: Global Offensive military shooter. While this is a shock for fans, Blizzard has its reasons, which include consoles, money, and slowing down the influx of players.