When Blizzard teased that big changes were coming to Overwatch 2, I (along with many others in the FPS community) naively assumed it would be completely ditching 5v5 and trudging back to the old 6v6 ways across the board. Well, that ain't happening – what you're getting instead is actually way more exciting, if you ask me. A transformational new game mode called Stadium has been revealed, Loot Boxes are making a comeback, and a brand new hero called Freja has been unveiled too.
Let's start with Stadium, which could be one of the biggest new additions in the Overwatch 2.
Stadium is essentially a mini series of randomized game modes and maps, where teams will play in a best-of-seven match. The first team to win four maps is the victor – or you can trigger the mercy rule if you win the first three maps back-to-back. The modes you'll be playing are more compact, shorter versions of Control, Push, and Clash. Depending on how well you perform in each match, you'll earn Currency, which can be spent in between each round on items called mods. These will buff you, your weapons, and abilities in various ways. Items can give you increased weapon damage, add lifesteal to your weapon damage, increase the amount of ultimate charge at the start of rounds, reduce your ability cooldowns, and much more. With these Counter-Strike-esque buy rounds and a focus on progressively improving your hero's build, it's certainly an interesting concept.
The best performing players in a game will also be allocated Currency bounties – the more deadly they are, the higher the bounty. If you kill them, the bonus Currency will find its way into your pocket.
For the first time ever, Stadium will take Overwatch into third person too, just like Deadlock. While there will eventually be a first-person toggle, Blizzard seems keen to encourage players to try this new perspective. There will also be shoulder swapping.
Today's Overwatch 2 Spotlight stream revealed loads more massive features coming to the game.
Hero perks, a bit like the items in Stadium mode, are a new feature aimed at giving players new ways to enhance their favorite heroes. Blizzard describes perks as "the most significant innovation" to gameplay since Overwatch launched, and they give each hero a set of minor and major perks that you can select at two points during a match. While the minor perk you chose gives a small buff to a certain element of your kit, the major perk will have a powerful, transformative effect that will change the way some of your abilities work. Perks will be added to the game next week when Season 15 begins.
Another huge addition for Season 15 is Loot Boxes – yes, they're back. While they were removed in favor of a more structured battle system in Overwatch 2, the vast amount of free cosmetics Loot Boxes dished out has been sorely missed.
Overwatch 2 Season 15 will arrive on Tuesday, February 28.
Beyond what's coming next week, a new hero called Freyja has also been revealed. Her hero trial will arrive at some point during Season 15. In future seasons, map voting and hero bans are coming to competitive queue as well. This is a huge series of announcements that are super exciting for the future of Overwatch 2, and I genuinely wouldn't be surprised to see it go through a bit of a resurgence this year.
If this isn't enough to lure you back in, here are some other competitive free PC games you can try instead.
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