Overwatch 2 Rebrands to 'Overwatch' as Blizzard Announces 10 New Heroes, Year-Long Story, Switch 2 Version

Overwatch 2, the free-to-play hero shooter from Blizzard, is now just Overwatch. The game is rebranding and dropping the ‘2' from its title as part of a major revamp that includes a new year-long story, 10 new heroes, and a host of new content, Blizzard announced Wednesday at its Overwatch Spotlight livestream. The game will get an all-new Season 1 with five of the 10 new heroes on February 10.

Overwatch Gets New Year-Long Story

As part of the year-long roadmap, Overwatch will get a “multi-faceted, fully-connected story” for the first time, Blizzard announced. The story, titled The Reign of Talon, will be told from Season 1 through 6 through the entire year, before a new Season 1 launches in 2027.

The first chapter of the new narrative expansion of Overwatch will begin on February 10, when five new heroes will be added to the game, alongside updated roles and sub-roles for heroes, new events, rewards, and a refreshed UI/UX experience.

Five new heroes will be added to Overwatch on February 10 when Season 1 begins
Photo Credit: Blizzard

Season 1 Arrives February 10

The five new heroes coming to Overwatch next week include Domina (tank), Emre (damage), and Mizuki (support), Anran (damage) and Jetpack Cat (support). Five more heroes will be added to the shooter over the course of the rest of the year. Blizzard said all heroes will play a play a key role in the story as The Reign of Talon unfolds.

The story will be kicked off with a new cinematic and later told through motion comics, in-game events, new voice lines, animated hero trailers, and short stories.

In addition to new heroes, Blizzard is also introducing new sub-roles in Season 1 on February 10. Tank class heroes will be devided across Bruiser, Initiator, and Stalwart sub-classes; Damage role gets Sharpshooter, Flanker, Specialist, and Record sub-roles, and Support class will be spread across Tactician, Medic, and Survivor.

Season 1 will also come with Conquest, a five-week event featuring missions that grant new in-game rewards. The new Season will see Overwatch get a UI/UX refresh for the first time in 10 years, too. The updated interface will be available in lobby, play cards, navigation, hero gallery, and social planel.

Switch 2 Version Coming Spring

Blizzard also shared a roadmap for updates through the end of the summer. Season 2 will kick off in spring, while seasons 3 and 4 will follow in summer and fall, respectively, bringing new heroes, a new map, and more content.

Finally, Overwatch is also getting a native Nintendo Switch 2 release with Season 2. Blizzard has not yet confirmed a launch date for the Switch 2 version of the game, but Season 2 is planned for release in spring season, which begins in March in the US.

Overwatch 2, a follow-up to Overwatch, launched in 2023 as a free-to-play title after nearly a year of early access. Blizzard initially had plans for a PvE co-op mode for the game, which were later scrapped.