With the Overwatch 2 release date closing in, a new batch of leaks have illuminated that Overwatch 2's characters will only be accessible through progression or purchase of the Season 1 battle pass, unlike its predecessor.

The supposed leak sparked concern over paid advantages within the Overwatch gaming community, and left many wondering what the staggered access to new characters would mean for high-level and competitive games.

The anonymous leak on Reddit claims that competitive play will be locked to all players for the first two weeks of the battle pass period, and that the competitive mode, "requires that you have every character unlocked to play it."

Overwatch 2 Competitive Play Might be Affected by the Battle Pass

This development would not be out of character for Blizzard, which has upheld a similar system of play progression in Call of Duty: Warzone's Battle Pass, which remains one of its highest-grossing console and PC games. Though, Operators in Warzone are simply cosmetic.

The alleged two week lock on competitive play at the start of each season would, theoretically, allow for players to get through the 15-to-20 hour grind on the free track to achieve the new playable character in tier 20 of the 80-tier battle pass.

For those unable to unlock the new hero within the season, permanent challenges will likely take the place of the tier unlock system to earn playable characters. For example, you may be able to access Kiriko by winning 25 Quick Play matches as a support character after Season 1 ends.

This leak remains unconfirmed by Blizzard, and Overwatch 2 is set to release on Oct. 4.

This article was originally published on dbltap as Will Overwatch 2's Battle Pass Affect Competitive Play?.