Overwatch Dev Tracker

The New Overwatch Esports Ecosystem

Overwatch is a competitive game at its core. It's fast, dynamic, and at its best when two closely matched teams are battling it out for victory.

Our goal as a development team is to ensure that all of our players have the opportunity to experience the thrill of competition - From the highs and lows of organized group play to the excitement of watching the world's best players competing at live events. Esports competitions are vital to any thriving competitive game, and Overwatch 2 is no different. Today, we’re excited to talk about what is next for Overwatch Esports.

Our philosophy moving into our next chapter of Overwatch Esports is simple: offer and cultivate an esports ecosystem that is more open - with anyone able to participate - always-on, regionally focused, providing experiences for participants and fans alike. Overwatch 2 is a game for everyone, and we want to ensure that anyone who has the skills is a...

Hello everyone… and happy 2024!!!

We're at the start of the new year, I thought it would be a great idea to talk about our view of 2024.

This Director's Take will be one part of a series where we frame up the year according to a set of values we’re using to develop the game. These values translate into goals and specific additions and changes to the game. There’s a lot of different things coming up this year that I want to share, so think of this as the first in a series of topics to cover.

One of the biggest values of the team is to improve Overwatch's individual and team focused gameplay to meet the needs of our core audience. When I look at the future of Overwatch, a year or two out, I don't see the exact same game that we're playing now, but with a few more heroes and maps added to it. The game should always evolve with new systems and features that serve our players. Some of these features could live just outside of a match, such as a map voti...

This weekend only, Sombra is changing up the rules for Quick Play. Enjoy Quick Play: Hacked – Quicker Play - a fun, new way to play with faster capture speeds, payloads, and respawn times.  Experience more team fights, more games, and new strategies. Here are the changes:

• Respawning times are now 75% of their original time.
• Payloads in Escort and Hybrid maps will move 60% faster.
• Taking control of the Objective Point in Hybrid is 40% faster than normal.
• Taking control of the objective point in Control is 40% faster than normal, and scoring the capture progress percentage is 80% faster.
• Taking control of the objective point in Flashpoint is 20% faster than normal, and scoring the capture progress percentage is 40% faster.
• When you play an Escort, Hybrid, or Push map, the initial match time has been reduced to 70% of the original time, and any time extensions are also reduced to 70% of the total time added.
...

Are you a wall-riding legend? Can you use Ice Wall to reach new heights? Does the kill feed light up when you use Self-Destruct or Dragonblade? Prove your skills with all new Hero Mastery courses! Lucio’s course launches today, and courses for Echo, Genji, Mei, and D.Va will be premiering each week for the next four weeks. You’ll also be able to earn new cosmetic rewards in a limited-time five-week event.

Hero Mastery is an always-available, single-player mode for honing a hero’s skills and abilities. Reach for the highest scores when you complete for fast times, defeat challenging training bots, and collect emblems throughout the course. You can already play Hero Mastery courses for Sojourn, Tracer, Mercy, Reinhardt, and Winston, along with Lucio’s course launching today.  As mentioned at the start of the season, we’ve made improvements to scoring in each Hero Mastery course, and we’re resetting the leaderboards, giving everyone a chance to prove ...

Hi there, I’m Kenny Hudson and I’m a hero producer on the Overwatch team. Creating a hero is one of the most satisfying and challenging things we do in Overwatch. We hold ourselves to a high standard when it comes to making anything that goes into the game, and heroes like Mauga are no exception. In this post, I'll be outlining the journey we took to bring Mauga from a short story to the latest addition to the hero roster.

Ideas for new heroes can come from anywhere. Sometimes, we draw inspiration from a cool piece of concept art. Other times, it comes from an ability experiment that's been hiding in the background of our development data. And sometimes, as in Mauga's case, the inspiration comes from the appreciation of great lore in our universe. As the short story “...

As the snow begins to fall this holiday season, the matches in Overwatch® 2 will heat up! Winter Wonderland is back with your favorite winter-themed event modes, fun new cosmetic rewards, and a cool way to earn rewards as you explore the Winter Fair!

Chill out in the Arcade

Winter Wonderland brings festive ways to play Overwatch 2 this holiday season with four returning event mode favorites! If this is your first holiday season playing, keep reading to find out how to play these cool game modes in the Arcade.

Tactical elimination and silly strategies await in Mei’s Snowball Offensive. Armed with snowballs that will knock out the opponents with a single hit, you’ll need to defend yourself with Ice Walls and Cryo-Freeze to avoid getting eliminated. If you miss, find fresh snow to vacuum up and reload your shot. Go on a frosty frenzy when you launch your Ultimate and rapid-fire several snowballs in succession. Play with a team in a 5v5 Elimination R...

Fierce battles await, and the hunt begins for epic new rewards in Overwatch® 2’s latest season. We’re bringing the newest Tank hero Mauga, festive holiday events, new Hero Mastery courses, and new rewards packed in a beast hunter-themed season. Overwatch 2 – Season 8: Call of the Hunt kicks off December 5, so keep reading to find out what’s in store!

Mauga is Here and Ready to Party

Players got to see and play Mauga in action during BlizzCon 2023, but now he’s here for good as the newest Tank hero you can unlock in Overwatch 2. Armed with dual chainguns that will burn and burst down your enemies, Mauga is a fierce tactician that you will want to watch out for. He can charge through enemies and come crashing down on them with Overrun, reinforce his team with his Cardiac Overdrive, and even brawl in close-quarter combat with his powerful Cage Fight ultimate. We’ve watched how he performed, listened to your feedback, and made some adjustments to make him st...

Overwatch® 2 Content Creators are some of the best players in our community. Whether showing off their awesome skills, creating awesome custom games, or building incredible experiences with their fans, they bring Overwatch 2 to thousands of viewers worldwide on Twitch. This is why we’re celebrating our Content Creators through the return of Twitch Support-A-Streamer for Overwatch 2!

From November 30 through December 10, support your favorite eligible streamers when you subscribe or gift subscriptions on their channel, and you will receive the Epic Bird of Paradise Echo skin that will unlock in-game!

Event Duration

From November 30 at 11:00 a.m. PST until December 10 at 11:59 p.m. PST. 

How to Participate 

Log in to your ...

This is one of two remaining Director's Take Blogs for 2023! We'll release another one in two weeks and take the last part of the year off for the holiday season before we pick back up again in the new year. I'll be writing this one in a sort of turkey-induced fever dream and the next one just after we launch Season 8. This is when we'll release our newest hero Mauga, along with quite a few balance changes for the game. We'll take a look at those changes and touch on a few other topics as well.

We're making a general change to the amount of ult charge retained when swapping heroes, reducing it from 25% to 15%. We do like that this mechanic removes friction when swapping heroes, and think that it still should at 15%. However, there is a perception that it's almost always an advantage to counter-swap upon dying, and we're lowering this value to see if it has an effect on swap rates.

Let's look at changes coming to some of our heroes for Season 8, starting wi...

A little event happened two weeks ago, and I was lucky enough to be a part of it… and all of you were too. BlizzCon isn't just for those who attend the show in person, it's also a time when we get to connect with fans around the world and show off more of the game than we normally do, and this year we even ran an event in-game with a playable version of our just announced hero, Mauga. I'd like to run through the show - this is partially a recap, a correction to misunderstandings around announcements we made, and a bit of a sentimental journey. If you're not into that and just want the deets on Mauga changes, skip to paragraph 3 (don’t worry, I won't mind).

Let's start with Clash. We announced our next new game mode as well as one of the maps, Hanaoka, which will be part of its debut. Watching through some of the videos that people made off of our introduction to the mode, it was clear that I talked waaaaay too long about 2CP, but it also felt like there was some c...

You all are the best community the Overwatch team could ever ask for.  Throughout the years, you have shared not only your passion for Overwatch but also your creativity through fan art, cosplay, and talent. So this year, we’re excited to revive a fan-favorite holiday tradition--the Overwatch Community Holiday Tree!

Cheers, love! The holidays are here!

Thanks for powering up our tree, heroes!

Happy Holidays from all of us on the Overwatch team. pic.twitter.com/OOdD9Drnby

— Overwatch (@PlayOverwatch) December 25, 2019 ...

Mauga is charging his way onto the Battlefield in a trial weekend, available now through Sunday, November 5. Mauga is a powerful, brawling Tank Hero who will tear through the competition with his incendiary and volatile chainguns. Keep reading to find out how you can jump into Overwatch® 2 right now and play Mauga this weekend before his full release in Season 8.

Check Out Mauga’s Burning New Abilities

Mauga features a kit that is designed to bash through the front lines and brawl his opponents in close-quarter combat, by wielding two powerful Chainguns that can either be fired individually or in unison. Ignite enemies with his Incendiary Chaingun “Gunny” to burn them when they take enough damage, then finish them with a critical hit from his Volatile Chaingun “Cha-Cha.” Paired with his Berserker Passive, which grants Mauga temporary health whenever he deals critical damage, he’s a mountain on the battlefield.

...

Last week, LE SSERAFIM released their latest hit single, Perfect Night. This song celebrates a night out with friends. The music video features all-new animation of fan-favorite Overwatch 2 heroes as they race their way to see LE SSERAFIM in concert. Now, the festivities continue in Overwatch 2, bringing new collectible skins and a limited-time game mode, Concert Clash!

Battle for Tickets to the Big Show!

Play as Dazzle D.Va, Traysi Tracer, Kira-Kir Kiriko, BB Brigitte, or Slay Star Sombra, who all need tickets for the big LE SSERAFIM concert in town in the new Concert Clash mode. You’ll have to outplay the antics and tough competition of Fawksy James Junkrat, in a unique 3v3 game mode. Your goal? Locate ticket machines that spawn throughout Busan and destroy them to collect tickets. However, if your opponents eliminate you, all the tickets you’ve collected are dropped! Once a ticket machine is completely destroyed both teams need to race to...

The holidays are on their way, and we can’t wait to ring in the festivities with the FlashOps Holiday Showdown tournament! Registration for North America (NA), Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), and Asia Pacific (APAC) regions is now live. With participation rewards and BIG regional prize pools, you don’t want to miss it!

NA AND EMEA EVENT OVERVIEW

Eligible Players from the NA and EMEA regions will compete for their spot in regional FlashOps Holiday Showdown Finals. The top 8 qualifying teams from each region will advance, where they will have a shot at a $50,000 USD prize pool.  

Think you have what it takes? Sign up today and prove it!

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Millions of you have answered the call to play Overwatch 2 since we launched a year ago. New heroes—Sojourn, Junkerqueen, Kiriko, Ramattra, Lifeweaver, and Illari—have joined the roster. You explored new parts of the world, including Esperança, Shambali Monastery, and Survassa. Teams worked together to stop Null Sector attacks on Rio, Toronto, and Gothenburg. However, we can’t wait to show you what’s coming next to Overwatch 2 at BlizzCon 2023.

Whether you’re attending in-person in Anaheim, CA, or watching from the comfort of your home, there’s going to be a lot of Overwatch 2 news, reveals, and competition to check out!

BlizzCon 2023 – Opening Ceremonies

November 3 – 11:00 AM PT – BlizzCon Arena

Alongside exciting announcements from World of Warcraft®, Diablo® IV, Hearthstone®, and Warcraft: Rumble, Overwatch 2 has a few surprises in store, including introducing the next Hero...

Welcome to the 2023 Overwatch® World Cup Group Stage and Finals! The top 16 teams traveling to Anaheim are ready for the first Overwatch World Cup Lan and Group Stage since 2019.

2023 Overwatch World Cup Group Stage

The top 16 teams have been split into 4 groups and will compete in a round robin gauntlet to determine the 8 teams advancing to the finals bracket taking place at BlizzCon! 

Hi everyone! We've had guest writers for the last two Director's Takes, but I'm back this week looking at Season 7 - how it started, how it's going, and what we can look forward to as it progresses.

This season marked the release of our latest Sombra rework. The hero keeps the same hacker fantasy that she's always had, but her playstyle is more active and engaged than it was previously. She also received a new ability, Virus. We've seen a lot of different takes on the rework and her new kit online - from dramatically overpowered to dramatically underpowered. But when you look at the data, she's trending in a great direction. Sombra's win rate quickly jumped 4-5%, with it being slightly higher at lower tiers and bottoming out in Masters and above around 46-47%. People are also still playing her quite a bit. Something we always observe with reworks or hero releases is a big spike, then folks go back to their mains. Sombra looks stickier initially a...

Today we are announcing Overwatch 2's first-ever in-game musical artist collaboration. We’re teaming up with K-pop sensation, LE SSERAFIM.

One of the fastest growing K-pop groups on the planet, this fearless group of five (KIM CHAEWON, SAKURA, HUH YUNJIN, KAZUHA, and HONG EUNCHAE) bring their talents to Overwatch 2 this season, with the music video for LE SSERAFIM's new single, Perfect Night, which will debut Thursday, October 26 at 9 pm PDT.

This collab also will feature a LE SSERAFIM-inspired game mode and exclusive in-game items, including Legendary hero skins. Details will be revealed on Monday, October 30, with content going live in-game on November 1.

LE SSERAFIM will also make an appearance at BlizzCon on November 4 for a special performance, including their new single, Perfect Night, in the BlizzCon Arena following the conclusion of the Community Night.  ...

The battle between forces of light and darkness comes to Overwatch 2! Halloween Terror 2023 has begun and brings a terrifying new game mode, fan-favorite co-op brawls, and spooky new skins to collect! Take part in the Trials of Sanctuary as you fight against Lilith Moira and the forces of darkness. Challenge yourself with returning game modes, including Junkenstein’s Revenge and the Wrath of the Bride, as you complete challenges to earn Overwatch Credits and Battle Pass XP to unlock new rewards! Keep reading to learn more.

Can You Survive the Trials of Sanctuary?

Trials of Sanctuary is a new four-player, co-op survival brawl where you can pick from six themed heroes of Sanctuary to fight against the dark legions: Demon Hunter Sombra, Barbarian Zarya, Nightraven Illari, Cleric Lifeweaver, Imperius Reinhardt, and Inarius Pharah. As you explore the dark cathedral, look for treasure chests that contain powerful loot. Some loot will boost your attack...

BlizzCon® – the biggest celebration for Blizzard® games, including Overwatch® 2 – is back! Get ready for new reveals, panels, and fun. Also, don’t forget to tune in as the Overwatch World Cup 2023 reaches its exciting finale in front of the live audience in Anaheim, California! Now, you’ll have your chance to get new limited-time collectibles for Overwatch and other Blizzard games with the BlizzCon Collection granted for all live attendees, and available for all players through the Battle.net store!

Anyone coming to ...