Overwatch Dev Tracker

The Overwatch team put together a live broadcast to showcase changes coming to PvP in Overwatch 2. Missed the stream? Get all of the updates and see how the team is rethinking Overwatch’s PvP experience.

TEAMS OF FIVE

The core Overwatch PvP experience will shift from six players per team to five players per team. In the standard PvP game modes of Overwatch 2, each team will contain one Tank, two Damage, and two Support heroes. This evolution introduces a major shift in the way that the team approaches all aspects of the game, from map design to the dynamics between roles and how they interact as a team.

At the heart of this change lies the change in mentality surrounding the role of Tank, previously ...

CHEERS TO FIVE YEARS

To celebrate five years of fighting for the future, we’re bringing back fan-favorite brawls and packing Anniversary Loot Boxes with commemorative items from the past. Log in to earn a Legendary Anniversary Loot Box and pick up an extra if you purchase a 50 Loot Box bundle!

BRAWLS ARE BACK

As part of the Overwatch Anniversary celebration, we’re unlocking the brawl vault. Enjoy your favorite modes from past seasonal events like Junkenstein’s Revenge, Lúcioball, Freezethaw Elimination, and more. Check out the full brawl schedule here...

We want to let you know that Jeff Kaplan has decided to leave the company after a long and storied career here, and that Aaron Keller, a Blizzard veteran and founding member of the Overwatch team, will be stepping in as game director.

Aaron has been a critical part of the Overwatch team and a key driver in creating the vision for the game. He helped create Overwatch as an original member of the team, and as an 18-year veteran at Blizzard, he has worked side-by-side with Jeff for a long time, not only in building Overwatch but previously in helping to build WoW as well. A few words from Aaron: 

Greetings, Overwatch Community,  

Jeff’s been a great leader, mentor, and friend, and he knows how much we’re going to miss him. I’ve been lucky to work alongside him and the rest of the Overwatch team for many years in...

A dragonslayer. A samurai. Two revolutionary soldiers championing contrasting causes. All four disparate figures lost to time, united by the ink of talented concept artists from around the globe for this year’s Archives event. To create some of the history-rich skins, Overwatch teamed up with Yusuke Kozaki, a Japan-based character designer who has worked on games like Fire Emblem, Pokémon, and No More Heroes.

Each Legendary skin from this year’s assortment of Archives ensembles draws from different historical eras in the characters’ respective home countries. Zarya dons ...

EXPERIENCE THE PAST. FIGHT FOR THE FUTURE. 

Find out how heroes made history as we take another trip through the Overwatch Archives from April 6 – April 27. Dive into story-driven co-op missions from pivotal moments in the past, test your mettle against new deadly new Challenge Mission modifiers, and earn historically inspired loot along the way! 

UP FOR A CHALLENGE? 

Journey into familiar territory with dangerous new twists. This year, we’re adding brand new Challenge Missions to the Archives Brawls: 

• New Uprising Challenge Mission:  
  • Bulletproof Barriers - Enemy barriers are invulnerable.  
• New Retribution Challenge Mission:  
  • Sympathy Gains - Damaging enemies heals other enemies. 
• New Storm Rising Challenge Mission:  
  • Thund...

“A perfectly balanced game doesn’t mean it will be fun. Design something fun and then balance it, it’s often more difficult the other way around.” – Josh Noh, Overwatch Game Designer

As any transcendent omnic monk will tell you, finding the path to balance is no simple task. Thankfully, the Overwatch team has a buddy-cop-duo of designers dedicated to finding the sweet spot where everyone feels powerful, but not punishing. Geoff Goodman, a 20+ year Blizzard veteran teams up every day with Josh Noh, a hotshot top 500 player, to help create and balance the living landscape of Overwatch’s Hero design. 

Recently, Geoff and Josh had some ride-along additions to their two-man team in the form of professional Overwatch League players, streamers, and content creators. As some of the most active members of the Overwatch community, these lucky few donned their designer jeans (...get it?) and were asked to takeover for Geoff ...

Everyone’s favorite lovable, huggable, and oh-so-squeakable half-onion, half-octopus has made its latest foray into the Overwatch fray as a full ensemble fit for only the most devoted of fanboys: Roadhog. His whimsical new skin is the product of Overwatch team concept artist David Kang’s creative expertise as both a designer of skins and squeaky mascot characters.

Kang, creator of the Pachimari and one of the minds behind the latest Roadhog skin, talks octo-onions, designing Roadhog skins, and what it was like to pull out all the stops to craft an outfit fit for #1 Pachimari Fan himself.

Sporting his Pachimari pin collection, an enormous tentacle, and a delightful little propeller hat that gives his ensemble an extra fun spin, Roadhog looks every part the ultimate Pachimari enthusiast—all thanks to concept artist David Kang and the Overwatch skins team. “It was definitely a pretty cool idea from the start,” says Kang, who spearheaded the ski...

Now through March 22, win games to earn delightful new rewards and become the ultimate Pachimari enthusiast—second only to Roadhog, of course.

Collect a slew of pachi-swag, a player icon, a Junkrat emote, six unique sprays, and Pachimari Roadhog (epic) for a total of nine new rewards.

• ONE MAN A-PACHI-LYPSE - Learn how to unlock rewards
• LOG IN TO EARN - Earn special Pachimari-themed cosmetics by logging into Overwatch

ONE MAN A-PACHI-LYPSE

Become the ultimate pachimari fan and collect special pachimari-themed content available to unlock in-game. Wins in Quick Play, Competitive Play, or Arcade will all earn you a limited-time player icon, a spray, and a new epic skin: Pachimari Roadhog!

These special PachiMarchi Challenge rewards...

Behind the Scenes of Overwatch 2

The Overwatch 2 team dove into the game’s development process and shared some sneak peeks of upcoming content, including new maps, PvP role updates, hero missions, revamped hero looks, and story.

The Voices of Overwatch

Voice actors Darin De Paul (Reinhardt), Fred Tatasciore (Soldier: 76), Charlet Chung (D.Va), Matthew Mercer (McCree), and Jeannie Bolet (Echo) shared their experiences bringing the characters of Overwatch to life, discussed doing voice rec...

Game director Jeff Kaplan and a host of Overwatch team members gave players a look at what the game’s sequel has in store for them. Missed the video? Catch up on the latest news from BlizzConline and find out more about what’s coming in Overwatch 2.

NEW MAPS

Overwatch 2 brings new, iconic locations to life for players to experience as they trot the globe in their efforts to keep the Null Sector threat at bay. One of the locations the team is most excited for players to experience is Rome, a map that marries romantic old-world architecture and embl...

Swathed in shadow, a serpentine spirit tracks a target through the scope of her gun. A second before her lethal shot lands, an enormous robotic tiger steps in front of its mistress, shielding her from the sniper and allowing her a moment’s reprieve to step back and take deadly aim at the one who sought to do her harm. A skirmish has broken out on the battlefield of Lunar beasts—and you’re invited.

Overwatch Lunar New Year is a grand celebration of culture and an event that’s dear to many team members. It’s also a chance for concept artists to tell stories through the skins they create, having designed skins in past years that represented characters from Wu Cheng’en’s ...

Calling all outlaws, pariahs, and the nastiest of ne’er-do-wells—there’s a bounty out, and the time has come for you to collect. The newest Overwatch Arcade mode has arrived in accompaniment of the Lunar New Year and it’s here to stay. Hunt heads, earn points, and work your way up the scoreboard by proving yourself as the fiercest fighter in the fray. Who will emerge victorious and claim the crown of the apex predator?

Senior game designer Michael Liaw, one of the architects behind the murderous mayhem of the new Bounty Hunter game mode, talks iteration, collaboration, and how to rake in points by racking up kills.

Liaw, a senior game designer on the ecology team, began his industry journey catching bugs for designers to amend as quality assurance. Now, he spends his days crafting and fine-tuning the scores of enemies players will face in Overwatch 2.

“I went to college for computer programming and hoped I’d find my way into games, b...

From battling on the frontlines of the Omnic Crisis, to teaming up with a mega-sized murloc looking to sway an eternal conflict between two towering celestial beings--the realm-shattering magics of the Nexus causes Blizzard characters to often end up transplanted from their earthly homes to some new and surprising territory. One such journey was that of Aleksandra Zaryanova, aka Zarya.

With our 30th anniversary around the corner, now seems like a great time to track down the designers who brought Zarya to life in Overwatch and Heroes of the Storm and find out what goes into creating an iconic Hero that spans two worlds.

The Defender of Russia’s Intro to Overwatch

Zarya’s voyage from early concept to the destructive wielder-of-weaponry was a surprisingly smooth process for the Overwatc...

Nestled in the shadow of Hanamura Castle, Kanezaka is a quiet area that straddles tradition and modernity. Weathered wooden buildings and a Shinto shrine guarded by solemn stone foxes border the bustle of a high-rise cityscape that trickles into the town proper. Kanezaka is full of whimsical detail and small, subtly hidden homages to the Overwatch team. Players can cuddle up at the cat café, drop by the seedy local bar, or gleefully obliterate some claw machines at the Pachimari FunFun! Arcade.

Catch up with some of Kanezaka’s developers, including senior lighting artist Fabien Christin, senior artist Thiago Klafke, senior level designer Morten Hedegren, and associate art director Dion Rogers, as they talk map design, inspirations, and what it was like creating a map entirely through remote collaboration and Zoom-jamming.

What games or other media inspire you? Did anything specific inspire you as you were working ...

Ready your shuriken, nock your arrows, and get ready to brawl in the Overwatch League Kanezaka Community Tournament. To celebrate the launch of the new Kanezaka map, and to give players a chance to show off their skills, Overwatch League is hosting a tournament that’s open to everyone!

Tournament Details

• Signups begin January 15 and extend until January 21. Matches will be held on January 22 - 24 on GameBattles.
• All matches will be played in the 4v4 Team Deathmatch format.
• Two (2) Overwatch League players will be eligible to compete per team, and only two can play on a team at any given time.
• Prizes:
  • The Overwatch League is hosting regional tournaments, each with their own $10,000 prize pools.

...

Join the fight now to earn new limited-time rewards, including the Kyōgisha Hanzo skin.

From now until January 25, players will be able to earn a player icon, seven unique sprays, and Kyōgisha Hanzo (epic) for a total of nine new rewards.

• DESTINATION: KANEZAKA - Explore the newest Deathmatch map
• RECLAIM YOUR HONOR - Learn how to unlock rewards
• WATCH TO EARN - Earn special Kanezaka-themed cosmetics by watching Twitch streams
• POST FOR TOSHIRO YAMAGAMI - Read correspondence from a denizen of Kanezaka

DESTINATION: KANEZAKA

Savor the sights of Kanezaka, a quiet town nestled in the shadow of Hanamura and the site of the newest Deathmatch map. During your visit, cuddle up at the Cat Café and enjoy the company of some feline friends, check out Moch...

Haikei, Toshiro, beloved husband:

The cherry blossoms are in glorious bloom after a gentle winter, soft clouds of pink against the green trees on the hillside. The season returns me to the winter day when the Hashimoto took you away from us, when snowflakes fell as the petals do now.

Strange that we are so close, yet we can visit you only when our current “masters” wish it. I hope they value your work enough to bring us together soon. Our daughter appreciated your recent gift, though I pray the blades you forge for the Hashimoto aren’t nearly so sharp, that what you craft for them is only equal to their sordid selves.

The forge of Yamagami Blades remains locked up tight, and since we last saw you in the autumn, we have moved...

The holidays are back, and with them come festive new outfits for Overwatch players to don while they sleigh the competition. Among the skins to unwrap this year are Toybot Zenyatta, a chrome-plated present straight from Santa’s sack, and Penguin Mei, who sports the latest in vogue cuddly climatology gear.

Senior concept artist David Kang, technical artist Ben Gerowe, and concept artist Kejun Wang divulge some of the secrets behind two of this year’s Winter Wonderland skins.

Toys for Bots

One of the most unique skins in the sleigh-load of Winter Wonderland cosmetics, Toybot Zenyatta employs visual effects that allow him to swap between faces in the midst of battle. The dichotomy between smiley and frowny face echoes his mantra of balance in both harmony and discord and gives him a bit of fun flair as he helps allies and hurts enemies. David Kang, the art director for the skin, guided the concept from its inception to its...

It’s not every day you get to use your teammates as literal bullet sponges (Roadhog aside) in a close-quarters firefight. Grab your pulse pistols, don your coziest skin, and get ready to get cold—Freezethaw Elimination, the newest Winter Wonderland brawl, is here. Instead of dying in this brawl, players are frozen solid in blocks of ice that their teammates can thaw (or choose to utilize as sniper cover while they attempt to pull off that perfect headshot). It’s an Overwatch version of freeze tag, one of the popular Workshop modes enjoyed by players in the Arcade.

This new game mode is the brainchild of associate level designer Trey Spisak, whose spark of holiday brilliance during the team’s annual game jam—also the source of the Overwatch Workshop—led to the icy inception of yet another way to play.

Catch up with Spisak and learn more about working on the Overwatch team and what it takes to design event brawls.

Let’s start o...

Despite having been immersed in numerous fantastical worlds and written over 50 novels spanning a multitude of universes, author Christie Golden talks about the Overwatch universe like it’s a home to her.

“I love that it’s a world in which everyone belongs,” she says. “You can celebrate your own culture, or appearance, or beliefs, while also celebrating those of others. Strong teams, friendships, and bonds of respect can be formed with anyone. I’ve always believed that there’s so much more that connects us than divides us.”

Those friendships, bonds, and connections are what she sought to explore in her short story, “Stone by Stone,” a narrative that takes readers on a journey of...