Here are all the new details released about Overwatch 2

The Overwatch 2 developers gifted fans with a two-hour stream about how competition between teams (PvP) will work in the upcoming sequel.

Fans of Overwatch got a better look at the game overall at BlizzConline in February. Although there were a lot of details released, most of them focused on the PvE side of the game, which comes in the forms of repeatable missions.

While everything is in development and might not appear exactly the way it is portrayed in the stream, fans are excited to get a new look at the PvP side of Overwatch 2.

Here’s a look at everything that was revealed in the Overwatch 2 PvP stream.

From 6v6 to 5v5

Right out the gate, game director Aaron Keller announced that Overwatch 2 will see the reduction of players in each PvP match. There will now only be five players on each team, and each composition will be made up of two DPS players, two supports, and one tank.

Read more: Overwatch League Power Rankings entering June Joust

The fan response to the change has been varied. Many are indifferent to the change and are waiting to see how it translates to gameplay and professional play. Others are very angry at the changes, and some are excited to see what the change will do for the competitive landscape.

New mode: Push map

Players on opposing teams will start equidistant from the robot, named TWO. The clock starts at eight minutes and the robot’s control takes 30 seconds to unlock.

In order to move the robot, players must stay near him and escort him throughout the track. Each time the players hit a checkpoint, it unlocks a forward spawn room. Players can lose the forward spawn room if the opposing team takes the robot back over that checkpoint.

In order to win, the team that pushes the robot the farthest at the end of the timer wins the match, or if a team can push the robot all the way to the end of the track, that team will win instantly.

NYC: Hybrid map

The first map the team showed was New York City, which was first introduced at BlizzConline, but this time fans got a good look at the small Easter eggs that lie within.

The Easter eggs are indeed one of the best parts of the map, especially a book with a World of Warcraft quest as the title and a coffee cup with “Jeph” written on it. The cup pays homage to a post from 2017 where Overwatch tweeted a picture of then-game director Jeff Kaplan with a coffee cup with “Jeph” written on it. There is also a Jeph’s Corner Pizza in the map as well.

Other features of the map include a NYC subway train, a firetruck with an omnic driver named after one of the developers and an iteration of Grand Central Station.

Toronto: Push map

Toronto is the first map fans got a look at that features the new Push game mode.

The map features Hotel Montebianco, a coffee shop named Tim Fordsons and Maple trees.

Canadian weather and culture is represented by snow all over the map and a big hockey statue. There are also huge and futuristic-looking buildings that give players the feeling that they are playing in an Ovewatch-themed Toronto.

Rio: Hybrid map

Rio is the most colorful map that fans have seen so far in the game. Players on defense start in Lucio’s home, which is connected to a part of the story the developers declined to elaborate on.

In the course of the map, players will guide what looks like a parade float shaped like a peacock throughout the map. The payload takes players through a tour of Lucio’s club called Club Sinestia and features many Lucio-themed set pieces.

Rome: Push map

Fans got to see some gameplay on the Rome map, which features the historic Colosseum, beautiful fountains and a lovely crafted Italian aesthetic.

This map is the second Push map that fans have gotten a look at, and this one features more of a C shape. It differs from Toronto, which has a path that snakes around the map in an S shape.

Monte Carlo: Escort map

Flying yachts, casinos and luxury hotels line the streets of Monte Carlo. There are plenty of expensive-looking cars lining the street, and there are some garages where race cars are kept.

The skyline is incredibly impressive on this map, with a utopia of buildings, boats and flying vehicles setting the scene in the background.

Players must escort the payload, which looks like a futuristic race car through the map, which has a massive hill and some hair pin turns.

Hero changes

One of the biggest changes to heroes is something that was announced at BlizzConline, but wasn’t described in detail, which is new passive abilities for each role.

Tanks will suffer less knock-back than other roles, supports will all have regeneration after they’ve stopped taking damage for some time and DPS players are getting a small increase to movement speed.

Some specific abilities have been revealed through the stream as well. Winston has a new secondary fire that he can charge up that shoots a ray of lightning at his foes. Mei doesn’t freeze her enemies anymore, but she does still slow them, and her primary fire does more damage.

Zarya now has two bubble charges that she can use for either herself or her teammates.

Additionally, there have been some changes to certain heroes’ UI layouts. Players being healed by Mercy can see in the bottom left hand corner that she is healing them, with an indicator that tells players where she is in relation to their location. Zenyatta also got an improvement and can now easily see who has his orb no matter where they are.

Crowd control

Developers are looking for a complete overhaul regarding crowd control of the opposing team. Although they haven’t settled on how they’re going to manage it, the Overwatch 2 developers team is looking at perhaps only giving tanks crowd-control skills or altering the existing crowd-control mechanics on certain heroes. McCree was brought up quite a bit by lead hero designer Geoff Goodman, which suggests McCree’s stun might be removed from the game in Overwatch 2.

When is Overwatch 2 going to be released?

Every time there is a stream regarding Overwatch 2, this question is asked, but fans will have to wait longer to hear when they can get their hands on the game, since no information about a release date was revealed during the stream.

Keller touched on the team working from home due to the pandemic and has noted that the team is just as productive as it was in-office.

Lead image credit: Activision Blizzard