Overwatch’s highly anticipated new feature will debut next season.

If you were looking forward to the arrival of Unvaulted battle passes in Overwatch, you’ll have to hold off a bit longer. Initially set to launch with the midseason update of Season 4, they will now debut at the start of Season 5.

Overwatch director Aaron Keller confirmed this delay in a blog post, stating that the system requires additional time for quality assurance to ensure a smooth launch without bugs.

“We’ve decided to push Unvaulting to the start of Season 5 to give our amazing QA team extra time to test it as thoroughly as possible,” he noted. “No one likes bugs, and we want to do everything we can to ensure this long-desired feature is as bug-free as possible when it finally becomes available.”

The concept of battle passes driven by fear of missing out (FOMO) gained traction with Fortnite, and Overwatch has adopted this model since 2022. Recently, several live-service games have relaxed the time constraints on earning rewards from purchased battle passes. A notable example is a competitor, where once you buy a battle pass, it remains valid indefinitely.

Blizzard announced the introduction of Unvaulted Passes for Overwatch back in August. While some older currencies and mythic skins won’t transfer to these new passes, they will provide players with a straightforward way to acquire emotes, sprays, and other battle pass cosmetics they may have missed.

Details on how purchasing and progressing through Unvaulted Passes in Overwatch will function are still under wraps. However, Keller hinted in his post about the delay that more information will be shared ahead of Season 5.

Season 5 is anticipated to kick off on October 6. Expect to hear more about its new features at the upcoming event next weekend.

Rise and grind!