Overwatch's Unvaulted Passes move to Season 5

The return of old battle passes missed the midseason update. Blizzard says more testing is needed before the Season 5 launch.

By Payload Wire Archive Story date Sep 4, 2026 2 min read

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The feature is delayed, not cancelled

Blizzard changed the release window for Unvaulted Passes in its September 4 midcycle update. The feature is now planned for the beginning of Season 5 rather than Season 4's midseason patch. The stated reason is additional quality-assurance work before players start purchasing and progressing through older passes.

That distinction matters if you were waiting for a missing cosmetic. A delayed shop feature is not the same thing as a limited-time item disappearing forever. The announcement keeps the feature on the roadmap; it does not say that every historical reward will return unchanged.

What to wait for before buying

Treat the final pass catalogue and its reward rules as the deciding information. A pass can contain currencies, seasonal items or rewards with separate availability conditions, so an old promotional image is not proof that the restored version includes everything shown in it. Check the actual in-game reward track before spending.

Blizzard's original Season 4 preview already described key exclusions: restored passes would not return their original premium currency, Mythic Prisms, Prestige Titles or Mythic hero and weapon skins. Eligible purchased passes would stay available to progress alongside the current pass. Those rules explain why an old reward-track screenshot is not a complete shopping guide. Season 5 is scheduled for October 6, but the delay announcement should not be mistaken for confirmation that the feature is already live.