Blizzard came out today, June 16, 2022, covering all to expect, with Overwatch 2. First and foremost, they announced that Overwatch 2 will be dropping October 4th, 2022. Overwatch 2 will become Free to Play so that more people could join. Later this month they will be opening up beta 2, but not when or how the beta would take place.
Cross progression was announced, along with some of the new content. Blizzard said there would be three new heroes, six new maps, and new game mode with over thirty new skins. There would also be 1 mythic skin, which is a new tier of skins, meant to be customized.
New Tank
The newest Hero revealed is none other than Junker Queen! She is set to be the new tank, after the newest DPS, Sojourn. Junker Queen has 5 abilities, with two primary weapons to choose.
- Primary Weapon: Large Axe
- Secondary Weapon: Shotgun
- Jagged Blade 1: Replaces the melee punch with a knife
- Jagged Blade 2: Can be thrown, and if an enemy is hit, recall the blade to pull enemy close
- Shout: When Junkerqueen shouts it boots ally’s speed and armor
- Ultimate: She spins her large axe around and can dash forward. Enemies hit with this receive a debuff on healing
The Developers have stated that Junker Queen is most deadly in tight corners. They also said that this new hero has named her Jagged Blade, Gracie.
Roadmap after Launch
After Oct 4, when Early Access opens for everyone, the next big update will be Dec 6th, 2022. It was said in the stream that another Tank was going to drop, as well as a new map and a lot more skins. This is also when Loot boxes will cease to exist, switching to a Battle Pass program.
Every Nine weeks will be a new season, with new content: heroes every other season, new maps in between. They even announced new rewards, such as Charms to be put on our weapons, and Banners.
Then in 2023, they have a lot of heroes planned, new maps, and modes. This is also when PVE is set to start.
PVE
PVE was introduced several years ago, with an Overwatch Event that was changed every year thereafter. This event became Archives and it is no surprise that they would implement a permanent mode for PVE. PVE in Overwatch 2 is set to replace the Character shorts and comics.
They also wanted a way to expand the stories of the characters, with the players being a part of it. It is set to showcase more of where the characters are from, also. Of course, PVE can be played with friends.
Changes to Competitive
As usual, there are some changes to Competitive as well. For starters, there’s the scoreboard that is reworked. Blizzard devised a way to help players know how they played in the match. Knowing this, they also added an After Action report, available after each match. This report supposedly helps player become better.
The SR is also changing. Currently the Dev’s state that the SR is a more permanent number, but with the changes, it should fluctuate more. The competitive tiers will have rankings within them in the hopes to change Competitive for the better.
PVP
Overwatch is all PVP, but for the sequel, there were major changes. Originally 6vs.6, it is now adopting a 5vs.5 comp. With 6vs.6 it was best with the 2 tanks, 2 DPS and 2 Supports. Now they are changing it to 1 tank, 2 DPS, and 2 Supports. Due to the change in team numbers, it also meant big changes to the meta. Example, all the heroes had to be rebalanced. The rebalance also meant that many heroes had some reworks.
The Creators at Blizzard have traveled the world to capture the ambience and sounds of real world locations to implement into Overwatch 2. They have also added a daytime/Night time option in game. They also worked on old maps, improving them graphically and making changes to better assist the 5vs.5 comp.
Author Thoughts
I’m really excited about Junker Queen and the reveal of a new support possibly being the fox that can be seen in an earlier teaser. I am sad to see the Loot Boxes go, but I am okay with the Battle Pass. Not much is known about the beta, other than it is happening, and that Junker Queen will be available. Hopefully this new Tank will be my new main. We still have four months to find out more about the fox, new maps, and the new game mode they said was coming.
Mom of three, enjoy videogames, board games and phone games. I typically am playing Simulation games or FPS games.
