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Category:
Overwatch

Why are my Overwatch 2 characters locked?

There's an easy way to check if your heroes are locked before you ruin one of your ranked games.
Image of Liz Richardson
Liz Richardson
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Published: Oct 10, 2022 08:32 pm

A key part of the First Time User Experience (FTUE) in Overwatch 2 is having to unlock heroes as you progress through the game. While that’s a valuable journey for players who are just learning about the Overwatch universe, it’s less useful for those of us who have been playing the game for years.

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A widespread bug affecting players since Overwatch 2‘s Oct. 4 launch gives existing players this experience without a way to unlock more heroes.

With this bug, only the 13 “starter heroes” given to first-time players in the FTUE are available. Sometimes, newer heroes that are acquired with purchasable additions like Junker Queen, Kiriko, and Sojourn are also available, making a total of 16.

The game is still entirely playable, but it’s incredibly frustrating for longtime players to see their favorite heroes locked for no discernable reason.

This bug is still prevalent and doesn’t have an exact fix at the time of publication. Reports spiked on Oct. 10, when many players logged in and saw half of the Overwatch 2 roster locked behind the FTUE experience.

While it doesn’t have an instant fix, there is something you should do before you jump directly into competitive mode and risk destroying your hard-earned climb out of Bronze.

How to check if your Overwatch 2 heroes are locked

Before you queue up for competitive mode or even a sweaty round of quick play with your friends, take a look at the Hero Gallery.

If you’re currently affected by the FTUE bug, heroes beyond the thirteen “starter heroes” will have a lock on the right side of their portrait. This includes necessary heroes for competitive mode like D.Va, Sombra, and Ana, so look to them first.

Screengrab via Overwatch 2

If these locks appear, you’ve been hit with the FTUE bug and won’t be able to select these heroes. No explicit fixes are available at this time. Anecdotal reports say that logging out of Overwatch 2 and restarting the game will sometimes fix the issue.

Changing regions is also an anecdotal fix, but the only actual fix for the FTUE bug will come from Overwatch 2 developers.

Check for fixes and announcements on Twitter and Blizzard forums.

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Author
Image of Liz Richardson
Liz Richardson
Liz is a freelance writer and editor from Chicago. Her favorite thing is the Overwatch League; her second favorite thing is pretending iced coffee is a meal. She specializes in educational content, patch notes that (actually) make sense, and aggressively supporting Tier 2 Overwatch. When she's not writing, Liz is expressing hot takes on Twitter and making bad life choices at Target.
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