Overwatch Has a Future — If Blizzard Pulls This Off

On the 12th of February, Blizzard announced some of their plans and updates for Overwatch 2, and honestly, I’m positively surprised. The development team has already confirmed some changes for seasons 15 to 18; some of them look amazing, some might work, and some I’m sceptical about.

Season 15

The first and biggest change coming to OW2 in Season 15 is something that could completely change the meta — Perks. These will be hero-specific bonuses that can change the optimal strategy and gameplay cycles of each hero.  Players will be able to choose from different upgrades to the kit, some of which look like complete game-changers. The Perks will be available whenever you “level up” your hero, which happens throughout the match. The first “level-up” will give you a choice between two minor changes to the hero; the second one will be gameplay-shifting and could redefine an entire playstyle. For example, D.Va’s first level-up will be between increasing the damage of the Call Mech ability and getting 75 temporary overhealth on eject. In comparison, the second level-up will present a choice between converting 150 of her health to Shield Health and using Defense Matrix to heal 25% of its absorbed damage when used or replacing Micro Missiles with Heavy Rockets, which is going to be a slower and more powerful ability. Conceptually, I like this change, but it has the potential to be really bad and turn this from a class-based hero shooter into a “Spreadsheet Gaming” MOBA, which I really hate — so Blizzard needs to be really careful with how they design this system.

Another big change in this season is the new Competitive Season, which will feature a rank reset. Other than just Gold and Jade guns, there will be new competitive awards: Galactic Weapons, Rank Weapon Charms, and new Player Portraits. But, if we’re on the topic of skins and rewards already, let me tell you one of my favourite things that are coming in Season 15. You might remember it from before Overwatch 2 came out — loot boxes! Yes, they are back, and this time with more information on how they work, too. You will be able to earn free loot boxes from weekly and event rewards, as well as one Legendary Loot box in the Free Battle Pass. The Premium Battle Pass will contain another two Legendary Loot boxes. The regular boxes will have the following chances:

• Legendary — 5.10%
•  Epic — 21.93%
• Rare — 96.26%
• Common — 97.97%

The Legendary Loot boxes will have the same chances for everything, except one out of the four rewards being a Legendary is guaranteed. More skins that will come out in this season are the Pixiu Zenyatta Mythic hero and a Mythic Weapon for Widowmaker. The LE SSERAFIM collaboration will also return this season.

In the middle of Season 15, a 6v6 competitive queue will launch as a further test about the popularity of 6v6. Personally, I’m a huge fan of the six-players-per-team format, so I will probably play that exclusively once it comes out. One more mode that will launch with Season 16 is another Overwatch Classic version: GOATS. Yes, you read that right, they are bringing the worst version of Overwatch back — I can’t wait to play tens of matches in which nothing moves or dies or breathes. All jokes aside, though, it’ll be really fun to go back to this era and laugh at the terrible balancing it had.

Season 16

The biggest change Blizzard announced in Season 16 is a new game mode, possibly the biggest one it ever created in the history of Overwatch — Stadium. Describing it as “more than just a game mode, an entirely new way to experience Overwatch”, Stadium will have a best-of-7 system in which you earn in-game Stadium coins each round to unlock and customise your heroes’ abilities. You will be able to alter your survivability and damage and even completely change how the hero plays. Reinhardt could fly through the air with a lava-spreading firestrike (hmmm, that’s awfully familiar to what we saw in the PvE trailer… Is Blizzard setting the ground for something big here?), and Mercy can become a fucking DPS with a shield! This mode will also give you the option to choose to play in Third Person as well as First Person, although I don’t see why this is needed, since the latter is just superior. This mode will launch with at least 14 heroes.

An entirely new hero will come out this season, Freja, but players will be able to try her out during a free trial weekend in Season 15. Blizzard didn’t give a lot of information about her, just her design and that more details on the trial will be announced later.

A very controversial mechanic will also be added to the game: Hero Bans. Before this announcement, some players were begging for it to be added, and some players were opposed to it vehemently. Personally, I’m not a big fan, especially in the 5v5 format: this can ruin the concept of counters in the game since each team will just ban the best counter to its tank. Regardless of my opinion, though, it’s going to be a thing, so I just hope Blizzard does it right. The announcement also said that “Later this year, there will also be a new Map Voting system”, which I’m a big fan of if done correctly — it means I don’t have to ever play goddamn Push again.

Some skins have been announced for Season 16: “DokiWatch-themed skins”, a Juno Mythic Hero skin, and a Mercy Mythic Weapon.

Season 17

Only two additions were announced for the far-away 17th season of Overwatch 2, both of them cosmetics: a new D.Va Mythic Hero skin. According to Blizzard, it was inspired by South Korea’s national animal, the Siberian tiger, and a new Mythic Weapon for Reaper “designed to capture the allure of corruption that turned Gabriel Reyes into the fearsome Reaper”.

Season 18

For Season 18, only one addition was announced, but it’s a pretty big one already — another new hero. The 44th hero of Overwatch 2, codenamed Aqua, is a Chinese man with water-based abilities that can manipulate the battlefield. Blizzard has said more details about Aqua will be revealed ahead of his release.