The future of Overwatch is bright, and more transparent than ever. Today, six members of the Overwatch team took the stage at BlizzCon 2023 in order to detail what’s next with Blizzard’s hero shooter. There’s a lot to be excited about, including new gameplay footage for an upcoming hero named Venture, first looks at the new Competitive mode rework, and details on the new Overwatch 2 game mode Clash.
The biggest takeaway from the Overwatch 2 panel this afternoon is that Blizzard is doubling down on having a better conversation with the community. The company hasn’t done the best job at communicating with fans and players since Overwatch 2 was first released last October – but that might just be changing.
During the 45-minute panel, Aaron Keller and five other members of the Overwatch 2 team shared inside looks at new features and characters coming to the game next year, all with the context that this is an early look. Designs might change, stats may be adjusted, and artwork may evolve – but Blizzard would rather share the info now than wait for the official debuts of its finished products. The passion was certainly palpable from the stage, so it’s no wonder the team wanted to show off what’s next with Overwatch 2.
Clash debuts as the next new game mode
The news all kicked off with plenty of details on the new game mode, Clash. It’s a new evolution of the Assault mode that was removed during the transition from the original Overwatch to its sequel, taking that older two control point structure and stepping it up to five different capture zones.
It’s a tug of war style game mode that takes elements from Assault and combines it with the back and forth philosophy we’ve seen from both of Overwatch 2’s new game modes (Push and Flash Point). The long and short of Clash is that the first team to capture all five of the points will win.
The mode mainly looks to address the issues of why Assault was removed from the game in the first place. There’s a home field advantage factor that helps prevent complete stomps, with gameplay that should have teams working back and forth to capture points. Blizzard hasn’t announced just yet if there will be a time limit to the game, but Clash will have a score limit to go alongside its definitive way to win of capturing all the points at once. Aaron Keller noted that it is the sweatiest game mode yet in Overwatch 2, so Clash should be even more fun for those competitive players out there.
Plenty of updates coming to the PvE side of Overwatch 2
The Overwatch 2 team was also able to share what’s next with the PvE side of the game, too. Coming in season 8, we’ll be getting five new challengers for the Hero Mastery mode, With Dva, echo, Genji, Lucio, and Mei joining the ranks. There’s also going to be some new leaderboards, as well as the ability to watch gameplay footage for addressing specifics that need improvement.
In much the same vein, there’s also going to be a new mode called Gauntlet that’s an extension of the Hero Mastery action. It’s a tower defense style mode that has you and two other heroes face off against waves of enemies.
There wi be a seasonal rotation of heroes as well as leaderboards to show off your own team’s achievements.
Overwatch 2 Competitive play getting a major rework
Blizzard is also announcing a new rework to its competitive mode for Overwatch 2. The crowd went absolutely wild as cheers range out in the arena during the announcement. News that the hero shooter would be removing the requirement for five wins or 15 losses before your ranking would adjust started off the news, with even more to follow. Now gamers will have their rank adjusted after every single match they play. No more frustrating losing steaks just to see you want down a level, no more throwing yourself at a virtual brick wall of sequential games just to barely move up. Instead, Blizzard is listening to its most competitive fans and actually making its ranked mode more enjoyable – whether you’re a veteran Grandmaster or a Bronze player just getting your bearings.
Transparency rears its face again as one of the bigger sentiments packed into this part of the BlizzCon presentation. There will be plenty of new pages coming to the game that offers a closer look at where you sit in the leaderboard, but also how your level is determined in the first place. There’s new rank modifiers that help with the latter, rewarding you for win streaks and other efforts.
Blizzard also plans on adding new grouping modes for Overwatch 2, while removing the existing restrictions on queuing competitive games with your friends. You’ll be able to play with anyone – no matter the rank – thanks to wide groups, while narrow groups allow solo players a chance to avoid running into five stack teams only to be met with certain defeat.
This will all be rolling out sometime early next year in season 9 of Overwatch 2. The new competitive changes will also be paired with something of a rank reset that has gamers doing their placement matches again. The end goal is to allow everyone a fair chance at getting a new rank and end the woes of being hardstuck at your current level.
On top of just making the gameplay more rewarding, there’s also some new cosmetics you can earn for your troubles. The first one shown off at BlizzCon has the team implementing emerald weapons as a new iteration of the classic gold weapon rewards.
Three new heroes launching next year
By far my favorite part of the presentation was a better look at two all-new heroes. Both coming in 2024, there’s a new DPS hero and support character launching next year to go alongside an unnamed tank that wasn’t mentioned during the BlizzCon presentation.
First up, we have Venture. They will be coming in season 10 sometime in 2024, and will debut with an entirely new play style – the ability to dig underneath the battlefield with a laser drill weapon.
We got an early look at their actual gameplay – and we’re using they on purpose, as Venture is Overwatch 2’s first non-binary hero. It’s a very fitting weapon for a someone with a background as an archeologist, too.
Then coming in season 12, Overwatch 2 will get a new support player. There isn’t all too much to share right now, but we do know that the new hero is code named Space Ranger. She will be a high mobility healer with a particular affinity for soaring around the skies. So Pharah and Echo players should be getting a lot of love come next year.
Changes coming to the battle pass formula
Lastly, Blizzard addressed some concerns with the Battle Pass. Overwatch 2 made the switch over to a free to play structure, and with it came a paid Battle Pass that allows players to earn skins, emotes, and other unlockables.
The biggest criticism with the current implementation is surrounding the Mythic Skin that is the final reward at the end of the season. Giving gamers more of a say in their reward, future passes will see the ability for you to unlock older Mythics they may have missed from previous seasons.
The Overwatch 2 team finished today’s BlizzCon showcase by noting there is plenty more news on the way, and I for one can’t wait to hear about it.
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