Developer Blizzard Entertainment first teased “groundbreaking PvP changes” for Overwatch 2 at the end of January, with the studio announcing its plan to reveal them in a new Overwatch 2 Spotlight in mid-February. Now, that unveiling has finally come with a new developer livestream shown this morning that showed tons of huge adjustments and additions coming to the hero shooter throughout 2025.
One of the biggest features being added in just a few days when Overwatch 2 Season 15 begins on February 18 are Perks — special bonuses that enhance your hero in a variety of different ways. In each match you play, you’ll be able to level up two times, first with a minor perk and then with a major one. Minor perks are “lighter upgrades such as small passives or cooldown reductions,” while major perks are “gameplay-shifting changes” and will be “redefining what your hero is capable of.” With Torbjörn, for example, you can choose between using his hammer to restore an ally’s Armor HP or automatically reloading his Rivet Gun when you use Overload for his minor perk, and then either let his turrets stick to walls and ceilings or give it a Level 3 upgrade whenever you use Overload as his major perk. Notably, Perks will be active in both Quick Play and Competitive.
Season 15 also marks the start of the 2025 Competitive Season that’s bringing a rank reset, fancy new Galactic Weapons, and both Weapon Charms and Player Portraits to earn and unlock with Competitive Points. Season 15 will also feature a new 6v6 competitive playlist — sure to be popular with folks who miss Overwatch’s original format — as well as an Overwatch Classic: GOATS queue that brings back the triple tank and triple support hero combo that infamously dominated the meta of old-school Overwatch.
On the cosmetic side of things, Season 15 will see the return of loot boxes, with standard Loot Boxes earnable from weekly and event challenges and three Legendary Loot Boxes — ones that always drop a Legendary item — coming in each new Battle Pass (one in the Free track, two in the Premium track). Blizzard has shared drop rate percentages in its full blog post to be transparent; it’s also said that you’ll be guaranteed to get at least one Rare (blue) cosmetic in every box, with an Epic (purple) in every five and a Legendary (gold) in every 20. Oh, and Season 15’s Mythic skin is Pixiu Zenyatta, with Dame Chance Widowmaker offered as its Mythic weapon.
Where things are really looking like they’ll ramp up for Overwatch 2, though, is in April when Season 16 starts. Once it comes around, Blizzard will add a wild new mode called Stadium that features a best-of-seven-rounds format and an earnable currency you can spend on “transformative Powers that players can create unique builds around, setting up more strategic encounters that enhance the hero fantasy beyond anything we’ve released.” Some examples of Powers given by the developers include Reinhardt’s Firestrikes spreading roiling lava, Soldier: 76 giving allies who stand in his Biotic Field an attack speed increase, and Mercy protecting resurrected allies with a shield, among others.
Uniquely, Stadium will also be played in third-person view by default, though you’ll have the option for Overwatch’s first-person perspective, too; Blizzard says this “creates a more dynamic experience” and allows you “to see more of the battlefield and the direct impact your upgraded abilities … have in action.” On top of that, Stadium will feature bespoke UI elements and visual effects to make it easy to “seamlessly review, buy, and sell your mods (which encompass Items, Hero Items, and Powers),” and also see what players on the other team are using.
When Stadium releases, it’ll have its own Ranked mode with divisions, ranks, and rewards. At launch, 14 of Overwatch 2’s heroes will be playable in it, though the developers plan to add more heroes, maps, and game types to it over time.
Season 16 is also when we’ll see Overwatch 2’s next damage hero, Freja, come to the game (though she’ll be made briefly playable during a Season 15 free weekend). She’s a “former search and rescue operative turned bounty hunter,” and fights with an explosive crossbow. Her basic attacks consist of quick and precise shots from her Revdraw Crossbow, but with her Take Aim ability, she can slow down and fire a heavier shot “that’ll turn targets into fireworks.” Quick Dash and Updraft, meanwhile, give Freja some mobility, with the former acting as a dodge that sounds like it’ll refresh Take Aim and the latter allowing her to leap into the air for a shot from elevation. Finally, there’s Bola Shot, and Ultimate that wraps targets up and pulls in nearby enemies for combo playmaking.
April will also bring the introduction of Hero Bans, a system that will allow teams to “target strong or frustrating heroes” and prevent them from being played during a Competitive match. Later in 2025, Map Voting will be added as well so you can vote for the maps you prefer to play on. Beyond that, Season 18 will introduce Hero 44 — a Chinese hero codenamed Aqua “wielding water-based abilities that can manipulate the battlefield with an innovative playstyle” — when it eventually rolls around.
Overall, these are some massive changes and pieces of new content headed to Overwatch 2, with Blizzard clearly hoping to revitalize widespread interest in the game in the wake of the rise of direct competitor Marvel Rivals. Both Perks and Season 16’s Stadium mode have the potential to be a huge shot in the arm for the hero shooter, and I’m curious to try out both once they come out; Perks and Season 15 are only a week away, so I’ll definitely be reinstalling soon.
For fans of competitive games and hero shooters, Overwatch 2 is one of the best Xbox games and best PC games out there to play. It’s completely free-to-play, too, though I should note that you get free skins, 30 Mythic Prisms to spend on unlocks, and a constant 10% XP Boost if you’re subscribed to Xbox Game Pass.
