Overwatch 2 devs have laid out what appears to be its biggest update yet for Season 18.
The Narrative That’s Ruined Overwatch 2
When Blizzard announced Overwatch 2, they justified it to fans with a specific narrative. They claimed that they needed to make an Overwatch 2. They even had to shut down the original Overwatch. This was supposed to be the only way they could make Overwatch co-op PvE content.
They then shocked fans when they scaled back on all the PvE content they promised players. We won’t delve into the messy history of how this played out with fans here. But as you may expect, the fans punished Overwatch by abandoning the game in droves.
This narrative has been somewhat exaggerated to an extent. Active players may also feel that Blizzard let them down by not living up to their promises, but they are still playing. Even with less players than Marvel Rivals and Valorant, Overwatch 2 is still one of the biggest games in the genre and the industry.
Here’s What Blizzard’s Devs Say Is Coming
Game director Aaron Keller and associate game director Alec Dawson have outlined what is coming in Season 18. We’ll give a rundown below.
- They’re adding 60 new Perks, so that every hero gets revitalized.
- Stadium is getting four new heroes: Brigitte, Winston, Farah, and Tracer.
- Stadium is also getting Quick Play Mode, with cross play to boot.
- Progression is also getting tweaked, so that it’s simpler and easier to understand.
- On top of that, they’re adding a Rewards track to clearly get items like emotes and loot boxes.
- Ascended State gives players an icon with VFX. This icon shows how much time players spent on a hero.
- There will be a Hero Skill Rating system, to show players how good they are playing each Hero.
- They will be adding a new mode, Payload Race, with two new maps.
- Lucio Ball is returning.
- Mouse and keyboard support is coming to console.
- Kiriko’s upcoming skateboard emote will let her travel maps while boarding.
- A host of cosmetics, including Mythic character and weapon skins, are on the way.
Do The Devs Say It’s Their Biggest Update Yet?
Keller was succinct when asked if this is Overwatch 2’s biggest update yet:
I don’t want to jump into hyperbole and say like this is the biggest one coming, but man, it’s… it is big.
Dawson got introspective on the direction Blizzard has gone:
There’s truth to that, though, to some degree. I think our team has been getting better and better about structuring our seasons to where, now, we can create some really big beats. Season 9 felt like a big change in the game, and then they went to Season 12 which had Juno and a bunch of competitive updates.
15 and 16 [added] Perks and Stadium. And now 18, is another massive update for Overwatch.
We’ve been getting a lot more efficient and a lot better at planning over time, which has led to these big moments for Overwatch. [We can now] decide, like, “Hey, how do we want to change the game for the middle of the year?”
How Do We Feel About Overwatch 2 Now?
Clearly, Blizzard still hasn’t been able to come back and fulfill those promises of co-op PVE. But what Blizzard has accomplished since that snafu is not something to sneeze at.
It’s probably too early to say that Blizzard has ‘saved’ Overwatch 2. It’s also not always true that working hard is all you need to ‘save’ a game. But there’s something going on now that lapsed players may want to pay attention to.
If you want, you can wait and see how Season 18 plays out. But it might be overwhelming to come back after it finally hits.
