Overwatch 2 has been trying to mount a proper comeback since its underwhelming 2022 debut, and the upcoming 12th season for the free-to-play shooter seems to be its best effort yet. A new game mode, hero, and Xbox Game Pass integration punctuate an exciting potential re-entry point for lapsed players of Blizzard’s multiplayer game.
Blizzard dropped a new trailer and blog post explaining all of the updates features and changes coming August 20. Most notably, Overwatch 2 will be the next Blizzard game getting the Xbox Game Pass treatment. While the game is already free to play, Game Pass subscribers will get additional in-game currency and six Mythic hero skins starting September 17. Players must link their Xbox accounts to Battle Pass before October 21 to gain access to the first wave of rewards. Game Pass subscribers will also get additional periodic bonuses down the road, including stackable XP boosts and exclusvie access to cosmetics from prior seasons.
The Game Pass promition coincidences perfectly with the new season, which will introduce the new support class hero, the Space Ranger Juno. While her design has been divisive, the addition of a fresh support character capable of zipping around levels and increasing the speed of allies will add some new dimension to team dynamics.
Speaking of new dynamics, damage-focused and support heroes will be getting rebalanced.
“We have been seeing a lot of mobile heroes become favorite go-to picks and have a huge advantage in the current state of the game,” Blizzard writes in the blog post. “So we’re doing a pass to reduce the health on multiple Damage and Support heroes.”
Season 12 will also bring back two classic maps from the original Overwatch: Throne of Anubis (set in Egypt) and Hanaoka (set in Hanamura, Japan). While the maps will be a fun throwback for long-time fans of Overwatch, they’ll be returning to play an entirely new mode called Clash. According to Blizzard, Clash is an action-forward mode centered around teams vying for control of capture points across each map. The mode seems custom built to get players into frantic skirmishes and firefights quickly.
“With dynamic spawns and streamlined map routes, heroes can spend more time in the heat of battle and less time running back to the front lines,” Blizzard writes.
Perhaps the most mysterious thing happening during Overwatch 2’s 12th season is the integration of Blizzard’s other blockbuster properties. The end of the new trailer teases that players will see a World Of Warcraft crossover in some capacity. This will likely result in some pretty cool looking skins for existing characters, but we’ll have to wait and see what comes of the in-house collaboration.
It’s clear that Blizzard is angling to bring the Overwatch franchise to its former glory. The launch of Overwatch 2 proved to be an unpopular move with the game’s community. It essentially took away players’ unlocks and progress by rendering the original 2016 game unplayable, in exchange for a free-to-play game with less content and unpopular changes to the multiplayer meta. In the years that followed, the planned single player content, which was supposed to be the highlight of the sequel, was cancelled outright.
With enough distance from the shaky first year, the upcoming update seems like the best effort to turn the game’s perception around. The addition of a new character, the reivival of old favorite maps, and a mode that serves to let players learn the game’s roster in faster-paced matches, Season 12 seems like a decent place for Overwatch players old and new. Rewarding Game Pass subscribers is also a nice incentive for Xbox players who care about cool skins and unlocks.
Just a few weeks ago, Blizzard spoke candidly about bringing back the game’s 6v6 matches back, an exciting change for those who were turned off by the sequel reducing team sizes.
Despite its quality, Overwatch 2 has had a tough time not feeling like an unnecessary sequel. So it’s good to see its developer taking steps to course correct. While this effort may be spurred up by the influx of hero shooters hitting the market in recent months, with the imminent release Marvel Rivals and Valorant’s console debut, its the players who ultimately benefit from it.
