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Overwatch 2 will allow KBM on console, but you’ll be up against PC players

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Overwatch 2 console players will officially be able to use a keyboard and mouse starting with the release of Season 18. In patch notes posted ahead of the new season, the Overwatch 2 team says matchmaking pools will be tweaked slightly so players are sorted into a Mouse and Keyboard Pool and a Controller Pool. Those playing on a console using keyboard and mouse (KBM) inputs will be paired with PC players and other KBM console players, while the Controller Pool will be reserved only for console players using a controller. Season 18 arrives on August 26.

For players who switch to the Mouse and Keyboard Pool, “your internal MMR, skill ratings and ranks for all game modes will be separate from your statistics in the Controller Pool,” according to the patch notes. This group won’t have access to aim assist, as has been the case and will continue to be for PC players using a controller. KBM players will have to accept the prompt to switch to that pool in order to play, or manually switch in the Gameplay Options menu.



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Overwatch 2 season 18 patch notes
Game Reviews

Overwatch 2 season 18 patch notes

by admin


Image via Blizzard Entertainment

|

Published: Aug 22, 2025 01:00 pm

A new playable hero is just the beginning of a large swath of changes coming to Overwatch 2 in season 18.

Balancing changes are abound when it comes to things like Perks, Stadium Items and Powers, and more. Summer Games 2025 also returns, while Junkrat’s Loot Hunt event comes back again in September to mark the occasion.

Here’s what’s coming to OW2 in the new season when it launches on Aug. 26.

Overwatch 2 patch notes – Season 18

This is a pretty hefty update for OW2, including a new hero, plus the overhaul of many of the Perks introduced a few seasons ago, while also changing up a bunch of content within Stadium mode as well.

New support Hero – Wuyang

Image via Blizzard Entertainment

After a recent hero trial, the new water-wielding hero is available for all players to begin season 18. Here’s a look at his abilities and kit:

AbilityDescriptionInputXuanwu Staff
(Primary Fire)Fire a damaging water orb. Hold to control its trajectory and empower its explosion.LMB Restorative Stream
(Alternate Fire)Place a passive healing stream on an ally. Hold on the target to manually heal at an improved rate, consuming resource.RMBGuardian WaveSend a water wave forward that increases the amount of healing received by allies and knocks back enemies.ERushing TorrentRide water to move faster and jump higher.LShiftTidal Blast
(Ultimate)Protect an ally or yourself with water that detonates after a short duration. The explosion knocks down enemies and massively heals the host target.Q

New Perks

The majority of the roster has had at least one Perk removed and replaced with a new one, making for some fun new combinations to improve upon this year’s major update for the game that came in February.

I’ve highlighted some of the most interesting new Perks below.

Tank

Screenshot by Destructoid

D.Va

  • Precision Fusion – Major Perk
    • Press Reload to reduce Fusion Cannon’s spread by 75 percent for 3 seconds.

Doomfist

  • Aftershock – Major Perk
    • Enemies hit by Seismic Slam are slowed by 30 percent for 1.5 seconds.

Hazard

  • Explosive Impalements – Major Perk
    • Bonespur hits mark targets with spikes. Quick Melee and Violent Leap’s Slash
      detonate them for 40 explosive damage.

Junker Queen

  • Rampant Change – Minor Perk
    • Gain Unstoppable and refresh all cooldowns when using Rampage.

Orisa

  • Defense Protocol – Minor Perk
    • Regenerate 100 health per second while charging Terra Surge.
  • Mobile Fortification – Minor Perk
    • While Fortify is active, Orisa has no move speed reduction and no heat generation.

Ramattra

  • Relentless Form – Minor Perk
    • While Nemesis Form is active, eliminations extend the duration by 1 second, half that during Annihilation.

Reinhardt

  • Barrier Recharge – Minor Perk
    • Distance travelled while using Charge regenerates your Barrier Field by 150 per second.
  • Ignited Fury – Major Perk
    • For each enemy you hit with Fire Strike, gain 2 seconds of 25 percent increased attack speed.

Roadhog

  • Shrapnel Launcher – Minor Perk
    • Extend the range of Scrap Gun’s secondary fire by 50% and tighten its burst spread by 25 percent.
  • Pulled Pork – Major Perk
    • Gain overhealth based on how far you pull enemies with Chain Hook, up to 250.

Sigma

  • Hyper Regeneration – Minor Perk
    • 50 percent of Hyperspheres’ damage restores Experimental Barrier’s health.

Winston

  • Barrier Toss – Minor Perk
    • Winston now throws his Barrier Projector forward when used.

Zarya

  • Energy Converter – Minor Perk
    • Hits with Particle Cannon’s secondary fire generate 3 energy.

Damage

Image via Blizzard Entertainment

Ashe

  • Remote Detonator – Minor Perk
    • After using Dynamite, pressing E again causes it to detonate after a 0.5 second delay.

Bastion

  • Configuration Reload – Minor Perk
    • Refresh the cooldown of A-36 Tactical Grenade when changing configurations.

Cassidy

  • Silver Bullet – Major Perk
    • Peacekeeper’s secondary fire is replaced with a piercing shot that inflicts bleeding. Combat Roll and Deadeye reset its cooldown.

Echo

  • Focused Rush – Minor Perk
    • Focusing Beam’s range is increased by 4 meters and movement speed is increased by 10 percent when active.
  • Partial Scan – Minor Perk
    • Duplicate starts with 50 percent of its ultimate charge.

Freya

  • Hunters Instinct – Minor Perk
    • Direct hits with Take Aim reveal enemies to Freja for 3 seconds.
  • Momentum Boost – Minor Perk
    • Quick Dash distance is increased by 20 percent.
  • Aerial Recovery – Major Perk
    • After using Updraft, heal for 30 health per second until Freja touches the ground.

Genji

  • Swift Cuts – Minor Perk
    • Quick Melee reduces the cooldown of Swift Strike by 3 seconds.

Hanzo

  • Swift Lunge – Minor Perk
    • Arrow hits reduce the cooldown of Lunge by up to 1 second, based on charge.

Junkrat

  • Mine Recycling – Minor Perk
    • Killing blows with Concussion Mine restore one charge.
  • Bomb Voyage – Major Perk
    • After launching with Concussion Mine, Junkrat gains 35 percent increased attack speed for 3 seconds.

Mei

  • Skating Rink – Minor Perk
    • Allies within Blizzard gain 25 percent increased movement speed and heal for 50 health per second.
  • Glacial Propulsion – Minor Perk
    • Double jumping creates a small ice pillar that launches Mei into the air.

Pharah

  • Sky Spy – Major Perk
    • Concussive Blast reveals targets to Pharah for 3 seconds. During this, the next direct Rocket Launcher hit per target deals 30 percent extra damage.

Reaper

  • Death’s Shadow – Minor Perk
    • Shadow Step’s cast time and cooldown are 25 percent faster, but the range is reduced by 25 percent.

Sojourn

  • Deceleration Field – Minor Perk
    • Enemies hit by Disruptor Shot are slowed by 25 percent.
  • Friction Generators – Major Perk
    • While sliding, Power Slide generates up to 50 energy.

Soldier: 76

  • Tactical Salvo – Minor Perk
    • Helix Rockets cooldown is reduced by 80 percent during Tactical Visor.

Sombra

  • Adept Hacker – Major Perk
    • Hacked health packs provide up to 50 overhealth to Sombra.

Symmetra

  • Hovering Barrier – Major Perk
    • Teleporter gains the option to create a forward moving barrier instead. Pressing E again slows down the barrier’s movement.

Torbjörn

  • Hammer Time – Minor Perk
    • Move 20 percent faster while Forge Hammer is equipped.

Tracer

  • Kinetic Reload – Minor Perk
    • Melee hits grant 20 ammo.

Venture

  • Deep Burrow – Minor Perk
    • Drill Dash distance is 50 percent longer while burrowed.
  • SMART Extender – Major Perk
    • Empower SMART Excavator with E to increase its maximum projectile range by 100 percent for 4 seconds.

Widowmaker

  • Sniper’s Instinct – Minor Perk
    • Scoped shots charge 100 percent faster for 2 seconds after using Grappling Hook.
  • Seeker Mine – Major Perk
    • Venom Mine now fires poison darts at enemies within 10 meters and remains active after triggered.

Support

Image via Blizzard Entertainment

Ana

  • Speed Serum – Minor Perk
    • Nano Boost grants a 40 percent movement speed boost to both Ana and her target.

Baptiste

  • Biotic Reloader – Minor Perk
    • Hitting an entire three-round burst reloads a healing projectile. Healing projectile direct hits reloads 3 primary fire ammo.

Brigitte

  • Combat Medic – Minor Perk
    • Melee attacks reduce the cooldown of Repair Pack by 0.5 seconds.
  • Inspiring Strike – Major Perk
    • Shield Bash grants 30 percent increased movement speed for 2 seconds. Inspire’s healing is instant when activated by Shield Bash.

Illari

  • Solar Flare – Major Perk
    • Press Primary Fire while using Solar Rifle’s healing beam to consume all energy, healing allies in front of Illari for up to 120 healing.

Juno

  • Lift Off – Major Perk
    • Martian Overboots can now triple jump.

Kiriko

  • Ready Step – Major Perk
    • Swift Step grants Kiriko 40 percent increased attack and reload speed for 2 seconds.

Lifeweaver

  • Petal Power – Major Perk
    • Allies gain 25 percent attack speed while standing on a raised Petal Platform.

Lúcio

  • Soundwave Rider – Minor Perk
    • Wall Riding empowers your next Soundwave, increasing its knockback by 25 percent and damage by 50 percent.

Mercy

  • Divine Momentum – Minor Perk
    • Increases Mercy’s travel speed by 15 percent after cancelling Guardian Angel.

Moira

  • Destruction’s Divide – Minor Perk
    • Coalescence can be toggled between pure healing or pure damage, with 25 percent greater effect.
  • Reversal – Major Perk
    • Reactivating Biotic Orb reverses its direction.
  • Phantom Step – Major Perk
    • Fade lasts 0.5 seconds longer and boosts jump height by 50 percent.

Zenyatta

  • Transcendant Condemnation – Minor Perk
    • While using Transcendence, apply Discord Orb to all enemies within range.

The full list of Perks, including changed and removed ones, can be found on Blizzard’s website.

Stadium changes

New changes to Stadium mode in season 18 include the addition of Quick Play, a new map type called Payload Race, three new maps (Powder Keg Mines, Thames District, Oasis Gardens), and new playable heroes in Winston, Brigitte, and Pharah, with Tracer joining later in the season.

There’s a lot of tweaks to Items and Powers, too, so check out the full patch notes for specific details.

Roadhog revamp

Image via Blizzard

Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but Roadhog is getting a rework again. Say goodbye to his Pig Pen throwable trap, and welcome back his classic dual-firing kit. Here’s how Roadhog is changing:

  • Scrap Gun
    • Reverted to classic Primary and Secondary Fire functionality.
  • Primary Fire
    • No longer includes a volley of 4 extra large, long-ranged projectiles.
    • Number of projectiles increased from 16 to 25.
    • Damage per pellet reduced from 6.25 to 6.
  • Secondary Fire
    • Initial volley no longer crits.
  • Pig Pen
  • Take a Breather
    • Moved from Secondary Fire to Ability 2.
    • The option to toggle on the ability is now on by default.
    • Added Ability 1, Primary Fire, and Secondary Fire as additional cancel buttons while
      toggled.
    • Minimum time before cancelable reduced from 0.8 to 0.6 seconds.

Advanced Info Panel

After a recent tease, OW2 confirmed it will add a new panel for Advanced Information regarding a multitude of facets of the game, like hero abilities.

“From precise damage numbers and healing output to cooldowns and other critical stats, every value will be laid out for you to make smarter plays and master your kits,” Blizzard said. “Whether you’re looking to fine-tune your aim in Competitive or curious about the real impact of your abilities, the Advanced Info Panel will give you the numbers you need to level up your strats and play with purpose.”

Hero Progression 2.0

Image via Blizzard Entertainment

Hero Progression changes in season 18 “rebuilds the system from the ground up” and is all about cosmetics to show off your proficiency and playtime for each hero. Here’s what leveling up your individual heroes can bring, with descriptions directly from Blizzard:

  • Progression Level represents how much you play overall. Every time you level up a hero, your Progression Level also goes up.
  • Your hero and account level badges are automatically prestiged after reaching certain levels.
  • Level up your heroes to earn Ascended borders, which displays in most areas during the course of a match. Opponents will not be able to see your Ascended prestige until after the match begins.
  • As you level up, kickstart your cosmetic collection for your favorite heroes by earning Highlight Intros, Emotes, Victory Poses, Player Icons, Credits, and more.
  • Additionally, unlock evolving Name Cards and Player Titles to show off your high level heroes!
  • Progression accolades can be hidden in Streamer Mode settings.

Competitive Play – Hero Skill Rating

SR is back in OW2, but this time for individual heroes, allowing players to analyze their skill level for the different characters in the game. This is purely cosmetic, though, and does not affect matchmaking in any way, with each hero skill level set between 1 and 5,000.

There’s also a rank reset with the new season, due to the plethora of different changes alongside the update.

The full, comprehensive patch notes for season 18 can be found on the OW2 website. The new season begins on Aug. 26 at 1pm CT.

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Overwatch 2 Is Getting A Persona Crossover, And I’m Not Joking
Game Reviews

Overwatch 2 Is Getting A Persona Crossover, And I’m Not Joking

by admin


Overwatch 2’s next season is bringing a water-bending hero, some major overhauls to its build-based Stadium mode, and new Perks for every character on the roster. I’m not here to talk about all that. I’m here to talk about the collaboration I could not have fathomed that was teased at the very end of the hero shooter’s latest trailer. Blizzard and Atlus have worked out a deal to put skins based on Persona characters in the hero shooter. What a world we live in.

I do not care for the Fortnite-ification of Overwatch 2, which has become such a core part of Blizzard’s strategy these days, so even though Persona is one of my favorite video game series of all time, I’m not particularly thrilled that this collaboration is happening. That said, I am morbidly curious as to what this collaboration ends up looking like. The brief clip at the end of the trailer shows someone dressed as Joker, the main character of Persona 5, but we only see them depicted as a silhouette, so it’s unclear who is beneath the mask. Could it be Wuyang, the new support hero joining the roster this season? That doesn’t seem like that much of a stretch. Beyond the mysterious Joker skin, we don’t know if this is strictly a Persona 5 collaboration or if we’ll see skins based on characters from other games like Persona 3 and 4. Blizzard could throw a real curveball in there and have cosmetics based on characters from the often-forgotten first two games. The teaser does include what seems to be a new Play of the Game animation made to look like Joker’s All-Out Attack victory pose, so it looks like we’ll get more than just skins during the event.

Beyond turning Overwatch into Phantom Thieves, Overwatch 2’s season 18 is adding new modes and characters to Stadium, as well as allowing you to play it in Quickplay rather than just in ranked modes. This way, you won’t have to worry about losing your rank if you have a bad match or two. Stadium is already one of the biggest time sinks in Overwatch 2 and going through an entire game just to lose your rank feels bad, so this is a good alternative. In the main game, every hero is getting at least one new ability-altering Perk they can choose between over the course of a match. Some will be getting more than one new Perk, however, as Blizzard plans to rework more than 50 across all characters.

Lastly, Blizzard released a new animated trailer for Wuyang that gives us more insight into his family dynamics and also might tease that his sister, the fire-wielding Anran, may join the roster at some point down the line.

Season 18 begins on August 26.



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Overwatch 2 is getting a Persona 5 crossover event alongside brand new hero
Game Updates

Overwatch 2 is getting a Persona 5 crossover event alongside brand new hero

by admin



Overwatch 2’s eighteenth season launches next week and is bringing a Persona 5 crossover alongside a brand new hero.


The trailer for Season 18 ends with a tease of Joker from Atlus’ beloved JRPG, who will likely appear as a skin for an existing hero. No further details are known at present, but hopefully more character skins and references will make their way into Blizzard’s shooter.


The new hero joining this season is Wuyang, a Chinese “aquatic prodigy” who fights with a Xuanwu Staff and various water abilities as a support character.

Season 18: Stadium Quick Play Official Trailer | Overwatch 2Watch on YouTube


Elsewhere, the biggest additions in Season 18 include:

  • Stadium Quick Play for shorter match times, along with Winston, Brigitte and Pharah joining Stadium at season launch (and Tracer mid-season)
  • A new stadium mode called Payload Race
  • A PvP refresh and perks update, with 50 new hero-specific perks, rebalanced options for certain heroes, and a full rank reset
  • Two new Mythics: one is a character skin offering four tiers of visual upgrades, the other is a weapon skin with flaming effects
  • A brand new battle pass full of cosmetics to unlock


More details can be found on the Overwatch 2 blog.


Season 18 of Overwatch 2 launches on 26th August.

This is a news-in-brief story. This is part of our vision to bring you all the big news as part of a daily live report.



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Overwatch 2’s next big collab is GI Joe vs. Cobra
Game Updates

Overwatch 2’s next big collab is GI Joe vs. Cobra

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The real American heroes of G.I. Joe — and the evil terrorist organization Cobra — are coming to Overwatch 2 next month in Blizzard’s latest collaboration with toymaker Hasbro. And this time, the picks are pretty much flawless, with Reaper cosplaying (and accurately whining) as Cobra Commander and Genji dressed up as Snake Eyes.

Joining Cobra Commander and Snake Eyes in the Overwatch 2 x G.I. Joe crossover are Freja as Scarlett, Widowmaker as Baroness, and Doomfist as Destro. Yes, I agree, it’s a little strange there’s no Duke skin for Soldier: 76, but maybe that’s being saved for another time.

Like past Overwatch 2 collabs with Transformers, Street Fighter, and Gundam Wing, expect the G.I. Joe skins to cost a pretty penny. But there will also be some free stuff, like voice lines, sprays, and other cosmetics that can be earned through in-game challenges.

Overwatch 2 x G.I. Joe launches on July 1. The game is free to play on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X. The game’s 17th season launched earlier this week, adding new Flashpoint map Aatlis; two new Stadium maps; and three new heroes playable in Stadium: Junkrat, Sigma, and Zenyatta.



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Overwatch 2 season 17 patch notes
Game Reviews

Overwatch 2 season 17 patch notes

by admin


Image via Blizzard Entertainment

Power up and beat the heat with OW2 this summer.

Scott Duwe

 and 

Madison Benson

|

Published: Jun 24, 2025 01:01 pm

Overwatch 2 is powering up once again with a new season for summer 2025.

Season 17 of OW2 is called “Powered Up!” and although there isn’t a new hero this time around (the next hero will be playable in a test later this summer, though), there’s plenty of other quality of life changes and updates coming to the game when the new season begins on June 24.

Here’s everything new and different coming to OW2 season 17.

Overwatch 2 patch notes – Season 17

Image via Blizzard Entertainment

Season 17, Powered Up!, is all about the maps. There are new ones coming along, map voting, and some being added to the Stadium pool.

Alongside new maps, skins, and hero balance changes, we’re also getting limited-time events, changes to Stadium, and more. Let’s look at what’s new and different in OW2’s latest season.

Map voting

A long-requested addition, Map Voting, arrives in season 17 in both Quick Play and Competitive Play.

“After role queue locks, you’ll get three randomized map options to choose from,” Blizzard said. “Every vote adds a 1-in-10 chance to that map’s odds, and the winner is selected using a roulette style roll. To keep things chill, team chat, battle tags, and individual votes are hidden, so there’s no pressure—just a better chance at playing on maps you love. And leaver penalties kick in as soon as voting starts, so stick around and make it count.”

The more votes a map has, the higher its odds of being chosen. After voting for each map, OW2 will “roll” to see which one is selected. If everyone votes for the same map, the game will automatically select it.

New maps

Image via Blizzard Entertainment

A new Flashpoint map joins the Core experience in Season 17. Aatlis is based in Morocco and features lush gardens to luxury resort spaces. It’s a map that’s “built for tighter fights, cleaner rotations, and fast-paced momentum,” according to the developer.

In Stadium, Esperança and Samoa join the map pool.

New Stadium heroes

Image via Blizzard Entertainment

Sigma, Junkrat, and Zenyatta are the new playable heroes in Stadium for season 17, all with their own unique Powers to build ridiculous and powerful variants in the competitive game type.

Hero buffs and nerfs

Multiple heroes are getting updates this time around. Here’s a breakdown of each change:

General

  • Damage role passive healing reduction increased from 25% to 30%
  • Base health regeneration timer increased from 5 to 6 seconds

Tank

Junker Queen

  • Commanding Shout
    • Junker Queen overhealth increased from 175 to 200.
    • Allied overhealth increased from 50 to 75.
    • Duration for self-reduced from 5 to 4 seconds.
    • Allied duration increased from 3 to 4 seconds.
  • Developer Comments: Commanding Shout has been updated to provide stronger team utility and improve its overall impact. The adjustments reward well-timed use by increasing survivability for both Junker Queen and her allies. The reduced duration for Junker Queen is a double-edged
    sword—she doesn’t have the speed boost for as long, but the cooldown rotation is quicker since the cooldown begins once the effect ends.

Mauga

  • Berserker Passive
    • Overhealth conversion rate increased from 40% to 50%
  • Developer Comments: Berserker’s overhealth conversion has been reverted to restore some of Mauga’s durability to a more balanced state following previous changes.

Ramattra

  • Nanite Repair perk
    • Healing per second increased from 50 to 75.
  • Developer Comments: Nanite Repair’s healing per second has been
    increased to enhance its consistency and overall effectiveness during the
    short duration of Ravenous Vortex.

Zarya

  • Spotter perk
    • Movement speed increased from 15% to 25%.
  • Graviton Crush perk
    • Damage dealt over time increased from 30% to 40% of maximum health.
  • Developer Comments: Spotter and Graviton Crush receive targeted buffs to improve their effectiveness and ensure they remain viable choices alongside their counterpart perks.

Damage

Bastion

  • Model and hit volume size reduced by 10%.
  • Developer Comments: Bastion’s survivability is impacted by the large size
    of his model despite his high health and armor pool. Reducing his model
    and hit volume size by 10% improves his ability to avoid damage and overall
    balance.

Echo

  • Tri-Shot
    • Spread decreased from 1.4 to 1.1 degrees
  • Developer Comments: Reducing the spread of Echo’s Tri-Shot improves its effectiveness at range, making it a more consistent option for a highly mobile hero.

Pharah

  • Helix Shields perk
    • Shield health regeneration triggers when landing direct hits with
      rockets
  • Developer Comments: Helix Shields now offer a survivability boost by triggering health regeneration upon landing direct hits with rockets, rewarding player accuracy.

Reaper

  • Hellfire Shotguns
    • Damage per pellet increased from 5.4 to 5.75 (108 to 115 per volley)
  • Developer Comments: Part of the reason heroes like Reaper and Tracer had their damage reduced in the past was due to the shift to the 5v5 format—solo tanking and less frequent peeling made flanking heroes more effective, along with their strong performance on certain maps and game modes like Push and Flashpoint. This is now less of a concern with the introduction of map voting and hero bans, which help limit overperformance, so we’re restoring some of their damage potency.

Soldier: 76

  • Pulse Pistol
    • Damage increased from 5.5 to 6
  • Developer Comments: Similar to Reaper, Tracer is getting back some of the damage she lost due to past format and map concerns. Looks like she’s recalled back to stronger bullets—again.

Venture

  • Smart Excavator
    • Recovery time reduced from 0.7 to 0.6 seconds
  • Developer Comments: This change improves Venture’s damage output by increasing fire rate, enhancing weapon consistency without increasing the lethality of their combo.

Support

Lifeweaver

  • Cleansing Grasp perk
    • Life Grip cooldown reduced by 4 seconds if a debuff is cleansed
  • Developer Comments: Successfully cleansing a debuff now reduces Life Grip’s cooldown, improving the usefulness of Cleansing Grasp when timed well.

Lúcio

  • Crossfade
    • Base healing increased from 16 to 20 health per second
  • Developer Comments: Lúcio plays a unique role within the support lineup, offering strong mobility and team utility. However, his healing output has been lagging behind other supports, especially with the increase in hero health pools. This change makes his passive healing more impactful and
    better aligned with other support heroes.

Moira

  • Biotic Grasp
    • Healing per second increased from 70 to 80.
  • Developer Comments: We wanted to boost Moira’s overall healing output, as she doesn’t offer as much direct utility compared to other Support heroes, and we’re reducing some healing impact in this patch through the Damage role passive. We’re happy with the cadence of managing her healing
    resource and swapping to damage to restore it, so we opted to adjust the direct healing rather than the resource availability or a similar mechanic.

Zenyatta

  • Duality perk
    • Increased converted damage from 30% to 40%.
  • Developer Comments: Duality has struggled due to the number of conditions required for activation. Increasing the converted damage improves its effectiveness when those conditions are met.

Two Mythics at launch

For the first time in OW2, two Mythics are available at the launch of a season, for D.Va and Reaper.

D.Va Mythic: Horang

Image via Blizzard Entertainment

  • Level 1: Tiger armor and a hat with sleek, fierce white styling.
  • Level 2: Bun hairstyle with upgraded visuals in a cinnabar red colorway.
  • Level 3: Flex braids and a wild tiger mask in a pink-tinted colorway.
  • Level 4: Hit full tiger mode with ambient spirit energy, glowing effects, and flourishes that radiate power.

Reaper Mythic weapon: Steel Death

Image via Blizzard Entertainment

  • Level 1 Base: Brutal, sharp, soulfire-infused shotguns built for lethal precision.
  • Level 2 Reactivity: Weapons flare with dark energy as you deal damage.
  • Level 3 Flourish: Intricate glowing details surround your shotguns.
  • Level 4 Kill FX: Finish foes with haunting swirled shadows and sound effects that embody Reaper’s fury.

Limited-time events

Season 17 has two limited-time events announced over its first month, including Powered Up (June 24 to 30) and Hacks & Hijinx (July 15 to 28), both of which include challenges and free items to earn.

Hacks & Hijinx features rotating match modifiers, from low-gravity jumps to Ultimate charge-granting health packs. Here’s a complete list of every modifier you’ll find:

  • Mini Maxing: All heroes are 50 percent smaller and have a 30 percent health reduction.
  • Lie Low: Heroes can become invisible while crouching.
  • Fired Up: On Fire heroes have decreased cooldowns and deal more damage or healing at the cost of being visible to everyone.
  • Charge Pack: Health packs also give Ultimate charge.
  • Power Punch: Quick melee attacks knock back enemies.
  • Vampiric Healing: Heroes don’t passively regenerate HP. Instead, you get the Vampiric passive.
  • Aerial Combat: Heroes deal and receive 50 percent more damage while airborne. There’s also less gravity.
  • Back in action: Respawn timers decrease.
  • Berserkers: Heroes don’t passively regenerate HP. Instead, for each 10 percent of total HP lost, your attack speed will increase by six percent, and cooldowns are reduced by six percent.
  • Super Jump: Everyone jumps 200 percent higher.
  • Motion Detection: Moving enemies within 25 meters are visible through walls. Crouching enemies stay invisible.
  • Explosive: Everyone explodes on death.
  • Hyper Speed: Movement speed increases by 20 percent for everyone.
  • Buff Hunt: Every minute, a random hero has increased HP, deals more damage, and generates Ultimate charge faster. Defeating this hero grants you the buff.
  • Damage Pack: Health packs increase damage dealt by 20 percent for 10 to 20 seconds or until death.
  • Fallen Comrade: Heroes drop a globe on death that increases damage, armor, and movement speed when picked up by a teammate.

New battle pass

Image via Blizzard Entertainment

There are five new skins in the battle pass, along with two more in the Ultimate bundle:

  • 8-Bit Sombra
  • 8-Bit Genji
  • 8-Bit Reinhardt
  • Professor Fawkes Junkrat
  • Professor de Kuiper Sigma (Ultimate Battle Pass Bundle)
  • Principal Lacroix Widowmaker (Ultimate Battle Pass Bundle)
  • Delinquent Cole Cassidy

G.I. Joe collab

In the road map for season 17, OW2 confirmed that G.I. Joe would be the next collab for the game. In the reveal trailer for the season, players spotted Genji in a Snake Eyes skin, and that’s just the beginning. More will be revealed in the coming weeks.

New shop skins

Image via Blizzard Entertainment

Season 17’s new shop skins include (from left to right) Lifeweaver, Mercy, Kiriko, Soldier: 76, Juno, Venture, and Reaper. More info about these skins, like pricing and release date, will arrive soon.

New hero trial

Image via Blizzard Entertainment

Season 17 will close out with a new trial for the latest hero, the support hero Wuyang, towards the end of the season later this summer. To view the full patch notes, visit Overwatch 2’s official website.

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Mikayla Raines holds two fox kits for an Instagram photo.
Esports

Overwatch players mourn SaveAFox’s Mikayla Raines whose foxes voiced Kiriko’s spirit

by admin



Overwatch 2 players are paying tribute to YouTuber  Mikayla Raines, the founder of SaveAFox, after she took her own life in June.

On June 23, Mikayla’s husband, Ethan Raines, uploaded a video to their YouTube channel explaining that his wife had taken her life after being harassed online.

“They consistently spread ridiculous claims and rumors, and being the sensitive human that she was, Mikayla took it all to heart,” he explained. “It hurt her a lot. For years, she pushed through the pain of people trying to bring her down. But this time, it went too far.”

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At just 20 years old, Mikayla Raines launched SaveAFox Rescue in 2017, an animal rescue nonprofit based in Lakeville, Minnesota. The organization focuses on saving foxes from fur farms and finding them permanent homes and, as per its website, has rescued over 150 foxes.

Instagram: saveafox_rescue

While the internet has been mourning Raines, the Overwatch community was hit hard by her death due to the surprising connection SaveAFox has to the hero shooter.

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Blizzard recorded Mikayla Raines’ foxes for Overwatch 2

Shortly after news of Raines’ death, the Overwatch 2 community had their attention turned to a 2024 Facebook post from SaveAFox.

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“Did you know that in Overwatch 2, Kiriko’s fox spirit features the sounds of your favorite SaveAFox foxes?” they said. “Blizzard brought out a sound crew, set up a bunch of microphones, and recorded the foxes here all night long! They were even nice enough to make a generous donation to help us out.”

The resurgence of this post took the OW2 fandom by storm, with many learning about Mikayla and her story.

“I never even knew the fox voices were recorded at a real fox sanctuary. That’s really cool, although RIP the founder. It’s an awesome thing they did with their short time here on earth,” one commented.

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“Blizzard should create a charm or a skin for Kiriko in her honor. Or do we have a Kiriko specific map? Maybe place a monument?” another suggested.

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“This news hit me like a truck. I didn’t know her foxes voiced the Kitsune, my heart broke even more now. I’d like to think she found peace that the people that pushed her into this decision will never find,” someone else chimed in.

So far, Blizzard has yet to address Raines’ death, and it’s unclear if they plan to add an in-game item as tribute to her.

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If you or somebody you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts, you can reach out to the Samaritans (116 123) in the United Kingdom, or the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-8255) in the USA. For a list of worldwide hotlines, click here.



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Freja aiming crossbow in Overwatch 2
Esports

Overwatch 2 devs reveal major buffs for every DPS hero coming in Season 17

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Overwatch 2 is giving DPS heroes some significant buffs in Season 17 to better compete with supports and tanks.

Season 17 of Overwatch 2 is set to arrive on June 24 and the devs have revealed an assortment of global buffs coming in a patch once S17 is live.

In a blog post, former Overwatch pro turned dev, Scott ‘Custa’ Kennedy, delved into how the team plans to adjust certain characters and how some of the data from hero bans will influence their decisions.

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The DPS role in particular is getting some upgrades that should greatly switch up how the game is played.

blizzard

OW2 DPS heroes getting global buffs in Season 17 patch

According to Kennedy, the damage hero role passive in which dealing damage to enemies lowers the amount of healing they receive is getting increased in the upcoming patch.

“One big adjustment heading to Season 17 is increasing the damage role passive healing reduction from 25% to 30%, which should help damage dealers better contend with the amount of healing that support Heroes are churning out,” he explained.

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Furthermore, the global passive in which health regenerates after not taking damage after a certain amount of time is getting increased from 5 seconds to 6.

These two changes combined mean that heroes will be far easier to eliminate when DPS deal damage to them and make the role more impactful.

That’s not all, though. Kennedy also revealed that on an individual level, Bastion is getting some improvements to make him more survivable.

Instead of increasing his armor or health, the devs are reducing his size by 10%. Originally, they wanted him to be 15% smaller, but this apparently made the Omnic too “cute.”

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Blizzard EntertainmentBastion is getting his size reduced by 10% in Season 17.

“It’s a testament to the many different ways we can change and balance the game for every hero,” he noted.

Furthermore, while it’s not coming when Season 17 debuts, the devs have taken note of how often Sombra is banned in matches and are planning yet another rework with discussions ongoing.

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“She’s a complex case that can’t be solved overnight, but know the balance team has her in their sights.”

We’ll have to see exactly how the devs adjust her kit yet again, but don’t expect to see it anytime soon, as reworks can take a lot of time, especially if new abilities or VFX are required.

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Season 17 is also set to introduce map voting, a long-awaited feature that will finally put more control in players’ hands as to what map and mode they compete on.

More balance updates are expected to be revealed ahead of Season 17’s launch on June 24, but a full trailer for all of S17’s offerings is scheduled to be unveiled on June 17.



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Sombra in Overwatch 2
Esports

Overwatch 2 is making it easier to counter aerial heroes, but there’s a catch

by admin



Overwatch 2 players will soon have a way to make dealing with airborne heroes way easier, but just not in the way they may have liked.

Ever since the original Overwatch, players have had extreme difficulty countering heroes with aerial-based kits such as Pharah, Mercy, and Echo.

For years, players on the ranked ladder, especially on console, would dominate the competition by running Pharah and Mercy together, completely disseminating opponents with damage-boosted rockets.

The game’s latest hero, Freja, while not as aerial-focused as some others, is still a major threat as her kit makes use of an ability called Updraft which launches her forward.

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Well, the devs are finally adding a new way to deal with heroes like Freja. There’s just one problem.

Overwatch takes action against aerial heroes… in Stadium

In a May 30 blog post, the devs referenced Freja’s dominance since her debut and how they smacked her with a hotfix nerf the day prior by increasing her mobility cooldowns.

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“Our team is paying close attention to how Heroes are performing within Stadium and planning measured changes to make a more even playing field. Our newest addition, Freja, made quite an entrance,” the developers admitted.

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Blizzard

“We understand she can be frustrating to play against, so a new anti-air Item will be added in Season 17,” they confirmed.

The addition of an anti-air item is something that could have benefitted the base game years ago, but was never implemented.

Throughout Season 16, the devs have made frequent changes to Stadium through a series of patches, showing just how important the mode is to OW2 at the moment and this new item is just the latest example.

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It’s not clear yet exactly what the new item will do, but it is clear the devs don’t want certain heroes to be a major problem in Stadium and dominate the meta, especially considering that mode doesn’t have hero bans.

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Overwatch 2 Stadium Mode Screenshot
Esports

Is Overwatch 2 Stadium crossplay?

by admin


The Stadium mode in Overwatch 2 introduces a new way to enjoy the game, featuring fun skills that let you create character-specific builds, something not previously possible in the game. The mode isn’t restricted to a single platform either, as it’s available on both PC and consoles.

Since this is a new way to play, does the Stadium mode for Overwatch 2 support crossplay? Here is everything you need to know.

Does Overwatch 2 Stadium mode support crossplay?

No, the stadium mode for Overwatch 2 does not have crossplay support in its current state.

Without crossplay, players can’t team up with friends on other platforms or matchmake outside their own. Overwatch 2 does support crossplay in its regular game modes outside of competitive play.

However, there is some hope.

Is crossplay coming to the Stadium mode in Overwatch 2?

Yes, crossplay is coming to Overwatch 2 Stadium mode. Blizzard has confirmed that they’re aware of the highly requested feature and plan to add it along with an unranked mode for Stadium in season 17 of OW2.

Build saving too! Image via Blizzard

Just like in the base game, players will be able to enjoy the unranked mode of Stadium with friends, without worrying about having an advantage or disadvantage based on their platform, which is largely irrelevant in non-competitive modes.

Apart from crossplay and the unranked mode, season 17 is set to introduce the following new features for Stadium:

  • New characters: Junkrat, Zenyatta, and Sigma.
  • Maps:
    • Esperance: Push
    • Samoa: Control
  • The ability to save and share builds.
  • New all-star rewards.
  • Custom games.
  • More example builds.

You can also expect new items, quality-of-life improvements, bug fixes, and the usual balance updates throughout season 17 and beyond.

Blizzard has confirmed that Stadium is here to stay, with over 7.8 million hours logged during its launch week. It has now become the most popular mode in the game, surpassing both Quick Play and Competitive. That number will surely increase when more players can play together with the crossplay support in unranked mode.

While you wait for crossplay support to be added, make sure to check out our ultimate builds guide for the Stadium mode, including the best build for the recently added hero, Freja.

Dot Esports is supported by our audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission. Learn more about our Affiliate Policy



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