Blizzard is bringing some of the most substantial changes to Overwatch 2 that the game has seen since it launched in 2022. In a 30-minute-long Spotlight presentation, the company revealed several changes and new modes, as well as a new hero coming to the hero shooter in 2025. You can watch the full presentation below, or if you just want the highlights, read on.
The most important change coming to Overwatch 2 in 2025 is the addition of Perks. This system essentially turns the shooter into a MOBA, allowing you to upgrade your hero throughout a match and fundamentally change their ability sets to cater to your playstyle. This feels like the revival of the planned skill trees that would have given heroes different abilities that riffed on their base ones in a PvE mode that was canceled in 2023.
One example shown was Orisa, who can add a placeable shield similar to the one she had in the original Overwatch to her kit, allowing her to defend herself and allies with a more stationary playstyle. Also shown was the option to upgrade Ana to be able to use her damage-reducing Nano Boost ultimate on herself, giving her a power boost and a degree of survivability she otherwise doesn’t have. This is the biggest fundamental change Overwatch 2 has introduced to its gameplay since the game launched. It’ll be implemented in quickplay and competitive modes in Season 15, beginning on February 18. We’ll have impressions on the site very soon.
Blizzard is adding new rewards to its Competitive mode, including a purple Galactic skin for weapons, and weapon charms that show off your rank. Also coming to Competitive are hero bans in Season 16. Each team will be able to vote for two heroes each match, with the ban applying to both teams. In a future season, you’ll also be able to vote between different maps before a match, but that will be coming sometime after hero bans.
After years of backlash over Blizzard getting rid of Loot Boxes in favor of expensive cosmetics, Overwatch 2 is bringing them back in Season 15 to give you a random chance to unlock skins and other goodies. These will be found in weekly rewards and the free battle pass track, and the game will note the odds for different cosmetics before you open them.
After recently testing a return to Overwatch’s original 6v6 format, Blizzard is giving it a separate competitive queue in Season 15. This will be an open queue but will have a limit of two tanks per team.
In a bold move, Overwatch 2 is adding a new iteration of its nostalgia-driven Overwatch Classic mode that reverts the game to different points in its nearly nine-year lifespan. The next version will spotlight one of the most controversial metas: GOATS. This three tanks/three supports meta was prominent in 2019 and widely considered one of the lowest-interest compositions to watch and play. Some theorize the reason Blizzard introduced Role Queue was to ensure competitive players can’t run the composition. If you’re feeling nostalgic, the GOATS Overwatch Classic will be available in Season 15.
One of the big headliners of the presentation was Freja. She’s a new damage hero who was a member of the original Overwatch before it was disbanded. Blizzard describes her as a high-skill-ceiling hero due to the precision required to master her kit. She uses a crossbow, is able to leap up high and slow down time with her alternate fire, and has an ultimate that can drag enemies to a central point to rain down damage on them. Freja will join the roster in Season 16.
While we didn’t see the hero following Freja in motion, Blizzard did show concept art of a new character codenamed “Aqua.” This guy is a Chinese “water wielder” who has ”one of the most unique ability sets” in the game. He’ll join the roster in Season 18.
Stadium is a new mode coming to Overwatch 2 that includes Mods, a new mechanic that lets you make incremental upgrades to stats and abilities to create your own build for your character. You’ll build one hero throughout a lengthy match that rapidly swaps between different maps and modes as a best-of-seven game. At the beginning of each round, players are given access to an armory and can spend earned points from the previous round to upgrade their character’s traits and abilities. Some examples given include Reaper being able to fly while in Wraith Form, Soldier: 76’s healing station gaining increased range and delivering a power boost to those in its radius, and Kiriko being able to teleport across the map without having to target an ally to do so. Blizzard describes Stadium as the ultimate “fantasy” of each hero, cranking their ability sets to an absurd level of destruction and chaos.
Another notable aspect of Stadium is that it can be played in either first person or third person. Blizzard says this is to help avoid screen clutter, which is only made worse as abilities become upgraded throughout the match. Stadium will launch with 14 heroes, with the rest of the cast added over time. We’ll have impressions of the mode on the site soon.
Blizzard ran down the handful of customizable Mythic skins coming over the course of the next three seasons. In the Spotlight presentation, we see the Zenyatta skin based on the mythological Chinese creature called the Pixiu in-game; that one’s coming in Season 15. In the following season, Juno will get the Mythic skin as part of a magical girl theme called DokiWatch. Come season 17, D.Va will get a Mythic skin based on the Siberian tiger. Additionally, Widomaker, Mercy, and Reaper will each get a Mythic weapon over the next three seasons.
K-Pop group Le Sserafim is returning to the Overwatch 2 world. The girl group already collaborated with Overwatch back in 2023 with a limited-time event that included skins, an arcade mode, and a music video featuring Tracer, Sombra, Brigitte, Kiriko, and D.Va. Le Sserafim revealed that new skins based on the group’s aesthetic will come in Season 15.
After a rundown of new Esports formats in the Overwatch Champions Series, game director Aaron Keller threw out a few rapid-fire updates, including announcing map reworks for Ciravasa and New Junk City, as well as more “classic” map reworks. Also coming after Season 19 is a new map based on the Atlantic Archology lab, and one set in Tokyo.
We were able to get hands-on time with both Perks and the new Stadium mode. Be on the lookout for written thoughts on those very soon.
