New Overwatch 2 hero Venture playable free ahead of season 10

The next hero coming to Overwatch 2, Venture, will be playable this weekend for free as part of a limited-time trial that will run from March 28-31, Blizzard Entertainment announced Wednesday. Access to Venture will be free for all players, giving everyone a taste of their kit, which Blizzard also revealed in full.

Venture is a new damage hero who wields a drill-like weapon known as the Smart Excavator. Their primary weapon lets them fire a seismic charge that bursts after traveling a short distance. It also lets Venture burrow underground, where they’ll be invulnerable to attack, then emerge upward to deal damage. Venture’s Smart Excavator also lets them dash forward, pushing enemies back, with the Drill Dash ability. They also have two passives: Explorer’s Resolve, which grants them temporary shields when using abilities; and Clobber, which deals more damage when using a melee attack.

Venture’s ultimate ability, Tectonic Shock, sends out damaging shockwaves, as seen in the gameplay trailer above.

Blizzard revealed Venture at BlizzCon 2023 in November as Overwatch 2’s 18th damage-class hero and the game’s first nonbinary hero. Venture will be released officially on April 16, when season 10 of Overwatch 2 kicks off.

When season 10 launches next month, it will bring an important change to how Blizzard releases new heroes for Overwatch 2. Venture will be available for free to all players at the same time, and won’t be locked behind the game’s battle pass. Overwatch 2 players will also get free access to all of the game’s previously released heroes, like Mauga, Illari, and Lifeweaver, when season 10 launches. New players will still need to complete the first-time user experience to unlock heroes.

Blizzard plans to release at least one more hero this year. A new support hero, codenamed Space Ranger, will launch with season 12 of Overwatch 2.