Blizzard’s big Overwatch 2 stream took place last night, during which developers revealed a lot more about the sequel. One of the biggest changes is a move away from the 6v6 matches in the original game to a new 5v5 format, which is much more common amongst competitive shooters. 

With the new 5v5 match format, teams in Overwatch 2 will consist of two DPS characters, two support characters and just one tank. By shuffling the format around like this, Blizzard hopes to simplify and shake up the Overwatch meta. Teams will have to rely less on hiding behind tanks and constantly healing them, opening the door up for more creative plays centred around flanking angles and covering wider areas of the map.

While teams will now have to do with one less tank, these characters will be getting some significant buffs to compensate. Two examples of this were given, with Winston getting a ranged alt-fire mode and Reinhardt getting a second Firestrike attack.

During the stream, Blizzard also showed a trio of new maps, including New York, Rio and Monte Carlo. We also got a look at some new character designs and the UI tweaks in place for Overwatch 2. Unfortunately, the stream did not include any information on a release date or release window, but we can expect more developer updates like this in the future.

KitGuru Says: A lot of Overwatch matches do end up being a tug of war down the main path of the map, so these changes are interesting. What did you all think of yesterday’s Overwatch 2 showcase? 

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