In Overwatch 2, players will take on the roles of the world’s heroes in cooperative missions that challenge them to team up, power up, and stand together against an overwhelming outbreak of threats around the globe. Players will also battle each other in the next evolution of competitive Overwatch play, which carries forward existing players’ accomplishments and loot collections and features the current complete Overwatch roster, a new generation of heroes, new internationally recognizable maps that widen the scope of the world, a new Push map type, and more.

In the sequel’s action-packed cooperative Story Missions, players will experience the advent of a new Overwatch as Winston, Tracer, and other members of the original Overwatch join forces with a new generation of heroes. Players will take an active role in the Overwatch saga as a new global crisis unfolds through a series of intense, high-stakes four-player missions. As the story progresses, players will team up as different sets of heroes and fight to defend the world from the omnic forces of Null Sector, uncover the motives behind the robotic armies’ attacks, and come face-to-face with rising new threats around the globe.

The battle continues in Hero Missions, where the Overwatch team will be called upon to go beyond their limits as they deploy across the planet, defending cities against robot invasions, taking on elite Talon agents, and battling the villainous forces laying siege to the world. In this highly replayable mode, players can level up their favorite heroes and earn powerful customization options that supercharge their abilities in co-op play—such as altering Reinhardt’s Fire Strike to ignite nearby enemies or modifying Tracer’s Pulse Bomb to cause a devastating chain reaction—granting the extra edge they need against the overwhelming odds.

Overwatch 2 has seen over twenty-five million heroes join the fight in the first ten days since its launch on PC, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PS4, PS5 and Nintendo Switch consoles, with a daily player base spread near-even across EMEA, Asia, and the Americas that’s nearly triple the previous daily player peak from the original Overwatch.

“The launch of Overwatch 2 has been such an important moment for Blizzard. We’re thrilled to bring new players from around the world into Overwatch’s vibrant universe while welcoming back the existing Blizzard community,” said Mike Ybarra, president of Blizzard Entertainment. “This is only the beginning—there are so many possibilities to explore in the world of Overwatch, and we cannot wait for players to experience everything the team is building for the live game.”

The newest Support hero to join the roster, Kiriko, has been a popular pick in matches so far, with players having successfully charged and unleashed her Kitsune Rush ultimate ability over two million times in the first week alone. Also new to Overwatch 2 is cross-platform progression, a new five-versus-five multiplayer format, six new maps, the new Push game mode, a new ping system, a redesigned competitive mode, updated appearances for every hero, numerous hero ability kit reworks, updated graphics and audio engines, and much more.

The launch is just the first step in the future of Overwatch. Overwatch 2 will receive regular seasonal updates, often including new heroes, maps, game modes, and cosmetics—read about it all at the official website. Planned to begin rolling out next year, release plans will be announced at a later date for the game’s much-anticipated PvE mode.

A Thank You to Players

As a thank you to players for their enduring support, any player who logs in from October 25 through to the end of Season One will receive an all-new Cursed Captain Reaper Legendary skin and a Health Pack Weapon Charm! Additionally, players can expect to earn double match XP on the following weekends:

• Starting October 21 at 11:00 a.m. PT, ending October 24 at 11:00 a.m. PT
• Starting October 28 at 11:00 a.m. PT, ending October 31 at 11:00 a.m. PT
• Starting November 24 at 11:00 a.m. PT, ending November 28 at 11:00 a.m. PT

To help realize these missions, the sequel also introduces significant engine upgrades that support larger maps for co-op (PvE) play, as well as the wide variety of new enemies and factions that players will encounter on their missions. The game also introduces visual enhancements designed to bring players’ favorite heroes—and their new looks for Overwatch 2—to life in greater detail.

Overwatch 2 also represents the beginning of a new era for the series’ world-renowned competitive 6v6 play. In addition to carrying forward all of the original game’s heroes, maps, and modes—as well as existing Overwatch players’ accomplishments and loot collections—the sequel adds multiple new playable heroes to the ever-growing roster; widens the scope of the world with even more maps and locations; and adds a new Push map type, in which two teams compete to make a robot (that happens to be pretty good at pushing things) push the map’s objective to their opponent’s side.

Overwatch 2also renews Blizzard’s commitment to continue supporting the existing Overwatch community. Current Overwatch players will battle side-by-side with Overwatch 2 players in PvP multiplayer. In addition, current Overwatch players will be able to play Overwatch 2 heroes and maps, ensuring the core PvP experience remains dynamic and vital for today’s community in the Overwatch 2 era.

Overwatch 2 is available for Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and PC.