Blizzard Entertainment’s recent Developer PVP Livestream gave us a first look at some changes coming to Overwatch 2 and they’re pretty major. I hope you like odd numbers and losing friends.
Currently, Overwatch PvP involves teams of six heroes (two Damage, two Support, and two Tanks) fighting it out for glory. According to the recent livestream, Overwatch 2 is changing things up by dropping one of the Tanks, reducing teams to five players. But the Tanks are changing, too, becoming in-your-face brawlers instead of overarching team protectors, which means new abilities and ways to play. RIP that one friend that plays the second Tank, I guess, but who even has five friends that play the same game? You charismatic stallions.
But it’s not just the Tanks getting a rework, each role is getting a new Role Passive. This means that Damage heroes will move a little faster, Supports will auto-regen health when out of combat, and Tanks will take reduced knockback and provide less ultimate charge to enemies that damage them. If that’s not enough change for you, there are also a bunch of hero-specific updates. For those who don’t want to trawl through the stream, here’s a look at Winston and Mei:
Further experimentation required.
All new abilities updates for Winston’s Tesla Cannon and Mei’s Endothermic Blaster coming to Overwatch 2. pic.twitter.com/adGLsGYLD2
— Overwatch (@PlayOverwatch) May 20, 2021
Also coming in Overwatch 2, two new game modes (Push and a mystery mode they’re not ready to talk about), new maps, and improvements to the UI and HUD. It’s almost like it’s a new game.