Overwatch 2: all the news about the sequel to Blizzard’s hit hero shooter

Hours after the Florida Mayhem were crowned the 2023 Overwatch League Grand Champions, the Overwatch League itself has likely come to its end. In a post on X (formerly Twitter) this morning, Blizzard said that it’s working on “building our vision of a revitalized esports program.”

It is no secret that the league has been in dire straits. Over the last few years, there were numerous reports that the league was struggling financially. Advertisers had pulled out after stories of sexual harassment and abuse at Blizzard broke in 2021. Team organizations were struggling to pay franchising fees, strained by the depressed economic conditions facilitated by the covid-19 pandemic. One team, the Chengdu Hunters, disbanded entirely in the middle of the 2023 season. And finally, after failing to renegotiate a deal with its Chinese publishing partner, NetEase, some Blizzard games went offline in China — one of Overwatch’s biggest markets — and remain offline to this day.

Overwatch 2’s Invasion event, which goes live today, is the game’s biggest update since penciling in the “2” in October of last year. The event, which coincides with season 6 of the battle pass, offers a new hero, a new game mode, and, perhaps most importantly, new story missions that, for the first time, advance Overwatch’s story. And while I appreciate and enjoy all the new coming to Overwatch 2, I can’t shake the feeling that this all feels too little and too late.

Flashpoint is Overwatch 2’s newest game mode. Teams fight to control one of five points spread out equally on maps that are the largest in the game. Each point unlocks sequentially, and once a team reaches 100 percent control, the next point unlocks. The first team to three points wins. 

From the first reveal of her character in a small thumbnail portrait in 2016 to her official debut in Overwatch 2 some six years later, Vivian Chase, call sign Sojourn, has been on a journey. Today, that long journey takes a new direction as Blizzard reveals her first animated short, bringing newfound depth to her character and to the Overwatch franchise overall. 

In an exclusive interview with The Verge, Sojourn’s creators talk about her new cinematic and her place at the center of Overwatch 2’s story.

You’re gonna have to pay to play Overwatch 2’s new story missions.

During Xbox’s Summer Game Fest presentation, we got a tease of Overwatch 2’s story missions. Though the content won’t be arriving until August 6th, a Game Informer story and a developer blog shared details about the new story missions, including one big, unexpected twist: that unlike any new game mode or seasonal event that’s launched after Overwatch 2 went free-to-play, these story missions would not be free.

Overwatch 2 will celebrate its first-ever Pride event. Starting June 1st, the Midtown map will be festooned with Pride flags, the lesbian hero Tracer will have a picture of her and her partner added to the barracks in the Watchpoint: Gibraltar map, and players will get a host of icons and name cards reflect the breadth of queer identities and the Overwatch heroes who share them. The Verge had the opportunity to speak with the developers about this new event, gaining insight into what went into creating this event and what this means for Overwatch’s LGBTQ+ fans and characters.

“We want it to feel like the game is reflecting what’s happening in the real world. We do it for Halloween. We do it for Lunar New Year, too,” said game director Aaron Keller during the interview. “It’s important to carry this forward for Pride as well.”

Game director Aaron Keller published a blog in which he apologized for the seemingly sudden cancellation of a portion of Overwatch 2’s PvE content. The blog also shared some detail about the origins of Overwatch PvE, the shifting vision for the content, and why the team decided to axe it.

Earlier this week, in a developer livestream that shared the rest of Overwatch 2’s 2023 roadmap, Keller and executive producer Jared Neuss made the shocking announcement that highly anticipated Hero Mode — one part of the game’s PvE content — had been scrapped.

Overwatch 2’s long-awaited hero missions PvE mode is no more. In a developer livestream, game director Aaron Keller said that the team is canceling the game’s PvE-based hero missions in favor of continuing on with seasonal, story-focused events.

When Blizzard first announced Overwatch 2, the developers teased that the game would have two PvE campaign modes adjacent to its traditional competitive modes.

I haven’t gotten emotional over an Overwatch trailer since the Overwatch 2 launch trailer. But the trailer for season 4 finally got me. Beyond teasing the season’s new skins, which feature a galactic space pirate theme, and the release of the newest hero Liveweaver, the season 4 trailer feels like it’s Overwatch returning to its narrative roots of hope, optimism, and inclusion.

Overwatch, since inception, has been about an idealistic set of cosmopolitan heroes coming together to save a world in crisis. That message is in the game’s DNA with its bright colors, futuristic aesthetic, and Tracer’s signature line, “Cheers, love, the cavalry’s here.” I wouldn’t say Overwatch 2 has gotten away from that message, but it’s been de-emphasized in favor of the necessities that come with being a product that’s meant to make money. We get the flashy skins, the balance updates, the events, and all the various and sundry things designed to keep players engaged and spending. And make no mistake, that’s present in today’s trailer and accompanying blog highlighting all the new stuff coming in season 4. (My favorite of which is the new PvP event that pits two space-faring factions against each other in a war for the fate of the galaxy.)

Overwatch 2 has been releasing new heroes at a pretty good clip, and with the pending arrival of season 4 comes the latest hero: Lifeweaver. Lifeweaver’s addition to the game had been teased by the Overwatch developers in the last few weeks, with them calling the new hero “cute,” leading some in the Overwatch community to speculate that we’d be getting another animal-based hero like the much-desired “jetpack cat.”

But thanks to an unfortunate leak and the slow drip of information ahead of his official launch, we now know the developers should have used “sexy” instead of “cute” because Lifeweaver is a stone-cold fox.

Other than a new map, a dating sim, and a tie-in with One Punch Man, Blizzard is also touching up practically every aspect of Overwatch 2 with the introduction of the game’s third season. A blog post provided an overview of the big changes players will see when the game is updated tomorrow, February 7th, but now the patch notes have all the details.

Major changes include a health reduction for tank characters during non-role queue modes, the return of the Workshop Editor, and an update to the game’s ping system so you can tell your allies if an ability like Immortality Field or Resurrection is on cooldown and for how long and allows players to choose any Ping to place on their Ping wheel menu. It’s a small change, but it should make it easier for folks to communicate even if they avoid the often-toxic voice chat.

A long whispered prayer has finally been answered: Overwatch 2 is getting a dating sim. Stealthily announced as a part of Overwatch 2’s season 3 battle pass, starting on February 13th, players can go to https://www.Loverwatch.gg to play a text-based dating sim in which they can choose to pursue either Genji or Mercy with the help of a Cupid-ified Hanzo.

Check out the season 3 trailer below.

To coincide with the release of season 3, Overwatch 2 is reintroducing Overwatch credits, giving players ways to earn those credits via battle pass progression, and adding Overwatch’s epic and legendary skins to its shop at reduced prices. Altogether, this currency overhaul is meant to address the long-standing complaint that the new cash shop placed one of Overwatch’s most unique and desirable features — its well-designed skins — behind a paywall that was just too expensive.

As Overwatch season 2 nears its end, the developers published a blog highlighting their takeaways from the season. They addressed new hero Ramattra, including the tweaks they’ve made to his abilities, competitive ladder updates, and changes coming to rewards for seasonal events. But perhaps one thing that stood out the most was the changes the team is making to its skin shop known in-game as the Hero Shop.

When Blizzard teased the arrival of Overwatch 2’s Battle For Olympus event, I had hopes I would have another game mode like Junkenstein’s Revenge to sink my teeth into. The limited-time event / game mode is now live, and while it’s not quite what I was hoping for, I’m still encouraged that Overwatch 2 is finally on the right track with its content releases.

Basically, Battle For Olympus is simply Overwatch 2’s Deathmatch mode with a very pretty coat of Olympian paint. Once again, the Overwatch 2 art team has killed it with these skin designs. Medusa Widowmaker is *chef’s kiss*. Players can choose from a handful of heroes, each with their own Olympian god theme, and battle it out with some major tweaks to heroes’ abilities.

From now until January 3rd, Overwatch 2 players can get a pretty sweet (heh) Gingerbread Bastion skin for the low, low, low price of one Overwatch coin. While the skin is yet another example of the Overwatch design team really nailing it, players might find themselves balking at the price. Not because it’s so cheap but because the offer seems like a poke in the eye, given the ongoing conversation regarding the game’s new monetization system.

Before Overwatch 2 took the game free to play, players had the opportunity to win new skins via loot box. And, if luck wasn’t on their side, loot boxes also spat out fair chunks of premium currency that players could use to purchase a skin outright. In Overwatch 2’s new monetization scheme, players feel like they’re pretty much forced to spend money as loot boxes are gone, and the premium currency is earned by completing time-consuming weekly challenges that max out at 60 coins a week.

After a three-year hiatus, the Overwatch World Cup is back. The event was announced over the weekend, possibly in a cute nod to the dramatic FIFA World Cup nail-biter final and to coincide with a special Overwatch League veterans competition (which you should watch if you want to see how the GOATs of Goats played in addition to feeling the emotions names like Runner, Bumper, Ryujehong, and Esca will evoke in fans of the Apex Tournament days).

Starting in January with the announcement of the 36 countries Blizzard is choosing to participate in the tournament, individuals can apply to be a member of their country’s committee covering roles like community lead, general manager, and coach. Traditionally, the committee members would then arrange tryouts for teams, but this year, Blizzard is organizing a World Cup Trials mini-tournament whereby winners can guarantee themselves a spot in tryouts. If you miss the Trials, no worries: players ranked diamond and above on the competitive ladder can apply to be a part of the regular tryout process that takes place starting in March.

Ramattra, the sleek and terrifying new tank coming with Overwatch 2’s second season, will be much easier to earn than the previous hero Kiriko. Aaron Keller, Overwatch 2’s game designer, stated in a brief message on Twitter that developer Blizzard is lowering the level at which Ramattra unlocks from 55 to 45.

In the past, new Overwatch heroes would be added free of charge. With the move from premium to a free-to-play model, heroes are now earned either via paying for the premium battle pass at $10 / season or by unlocking the hero via progression on the free battle pass.

The inaugural season of Overwatch 2’s battle pass is almost done, with season 2 starting on December 6th. With the new season come a fresh set of skins, a new hero, new map, and a new game mode, all with a Greek mythology flavor that might make you forget about that other god of war. (Unlikely.)

The biggest development coming with season 2 is the release of the sexy sentient robot Ramattra. Over the weekend, Blizzard revealed more about his design, abilities, and play style, creating what Blizzard’s calling a “tempo tank,” reflecting his unique ability to change his form and thereby his abilities to fit the flow of battle.