Most Exciting Features From Overwatch 2’s 2025 Roadmap

After receiving some healthy competition from the likes of Marvel Rivals and Deadlock, Overwatch 2 devs have made it clear that they intend to step things up in terms of upcoming reveals, new mechanics and gameplay modes, and bringing back some of the most well-loved and missed features from Overwatch 1.

Many new and upcoming features for the next few seasons of Overwatch 2 were revealed through the 2025 roadmap, which was showcased during the February 2025 Spotlight Presentation. This includes the likes of new Heroes, new maps, new game modes and gameplay features, upcoming Mythic Weapons / Mythic Cosmetics, and more.

Hero Perks

Pickable Passives to Customize Your Playstyle

Hero Perks are one of the newest additions to have already gone live as of Overwatch 2 Season 15. Hero Perks are a new gameplay mechanic included in both Quick Play and Competitive Play, letting players unlock unique passive abilities for the hero they are playing. By healing, dealing with damage, scoring eliminations, and gaining Ultimate Charge, players can progress their in-game level bar.

When players begin a match on a hero or swap midway through to a different character, they will begin at level 1. At level 2, players get to choose one Minor Perk from two different options, and then at level 2, they get to pick one Major Perk from two different options. Perks can be anything from passive damage increase, damage reduction, or even a complete change to one of the key abilities in a character’s kit. This lets players customize their playstyle and even play around counters with more ease, in some situations.

Loot Boxes Return

A Long Lost OW1 Highlight For Many Longtime Players

Loot Boxes are a fan-favorite mechanic from Overwatch 1, in which players could play to earn and purchase Loot Boxes to roll for various collectibles. These collectibles include hero skins, icons, voice lines, emotes, and sprays for each character. In Overwatch 2’s Season 15, Loot Boxes have already made their return – but can only be earned rather than bought.

Players can earn Loot Boxes from the Premium Battle Pass and by completing in-game challenges. Aside from purchasing skins with real and in-game currencies, or earning them through Battle Pass tiers or challenge rewards, the return of Loot Boxes gives players yet another way to obtain hero cosmetics, helping to complete each Hero Gallery collection.

Galactic Weapons

A Brand New Competitive Reward to Decorate Your Weapons

Gold Weapons have been around as a reward that players can purchase with Competitive Points since OW1. In OW2, Jade Weapons were introduced as an additional option, yet there were mixed reactions from players, as they looked exactly the same as the metallic Gold Weapons effect, just in a green color.

However, as of OW2 Season 15, Galactic Weapons have arrived, finally bringing something unique and fresh to the Competitive Rewards and Weapon skins areas of the game. Galactic Weapons colorize the weapons and tools of each hero or villain a deep purple color, complete with a slight animated galaxy/nebula effect. Players can earn Galactic Weapons by playing Competitive Play and accumulating Competitive Points.

Competitive 6v6

No More Tanking Alone in Competitive!

6v6 was the standard gameplay format for both Competitive and Quick Play game modes in Ow1, following a 2-2-2 team role lock (2 Tanks, 2 DPs, 2 Support). However, OW2 adapted to a 5v5 format across both game modes, dropping to 1 Tank – 2 DPS – 2 Support. While this change was made with balancing in mind, many users found themselves missing the days of double Tank / 6v6 as OW2 went on.

This led to several 6v6 gameplay tests in Overwatch 2, and finally, resulting in the return of 6v6 to both OW2 Competitive and Quick Play modes. Players will experience this return during the midseason update/patch of Ow2 Season 15 and will be able to choose between 5v5 or 6v6 queues when playing the game. The guidelines regarding 6v6 is no role lock, but a limit of 2 Tanks per team, meaning players can choose to default to 2-2-2, or even try out the various 1-3-2, 1-2-3, and 2-1-3 team comps that made their rounds during the 6v6 test events.

New Mythic Skins & Mythic Weapons

Full of Interesting Additions & Customizable Options

Mythic Skins have been a popular aspect of OW2 ever since they were first released. Mythic Weapons have added some fun cosmetic options and visual effects for players who enjoy maining specific characters or collecting different weapon skins. To help get players excited for the Mythic Skins and Mythic Weapons coming in the next few seasons of OW2, many details were revealed via the 2025 roadmap.

Season 15 has kicked off with a Mythic Zenyatta skin and a Mythic Weapon for Widowmaker. Season 16 will follow with a Mythic Skin for Juno and a Mythic Weapon for Mercy. Lastly, the Season 17 Mythic Skin will be crafted for D.Va, and the Mythic Weapon design will go to Reaper.

Stadium

A Brand New Way to Play

Stadium is a brand new game mode arriving in OW2 Season 16 and is the biggest game mode made for OW/OW2 to date. Stadium includes fast-paced 5v5 gameplay in a ‘best out of 7’ formula. However, the most unique aspect of Stadium is Mods. After every round of Stadium, players will earn currency based on how well they and their overall team perform.

Players can then use this currency to unlock and customize Mods from a menu, resembling much of what the OW2 PvE Skill Tree was originally presented to do. With Mods, players can enhance their survivability, increase cooldown speed, add extra damage, and even equip new game-changing abilities – such as an incredible Nano Boost for the entire team, from Ana.

Hero Bans

Get Rid of That Pesky Raid Boss Pick That You See in Every Match!

If Marvel Rivals have proved one thing, it’s that Hero Bans can absolutely be a functional game mechanic, and that players actually enjoy having the ability to restrict characters that are overplayed or overpowered at certain Ranks. Overwatch has taken inspiration from this proof and announced that Hero Bans will be making their way to OW2 in Season 16, alongside the arrival of both Stadium and Freja.

Overwatch has done Hero Bans in the past with a randomly selected group of heroes – 1 Tank, 4 DPS, and 1 Support. However, this time, bans follow the Marvel Rivals approach, in which each team can choose 2 heroes to ban at the beginning of the match, resulting in 4 characters banned across the board for both teams. Teams will also only be able to ban a maximum of 2 heroes from each role, and once Map Voting is implemented at a later date, players will vote map, then vote bans, before being able to see information about the enemy team – helping to stop targeted bans at higher elo.

Hero 43: Freja

A Brand New Face Arrives in Season 16

The most exciting addition to any new season of Overwatch is the introduction of a new playable hero or villain to join the roster. In Season 16, the 43rd official hero. Freja, will be available for players to utilize – though players will also get a chance to test play her and preview her kit during Season 15’s trial weekend.

Freja is a new DPS character who wields a bolt-action crossbow, and has a unique kit of abilities at her disposal. While Freja is in the air, her Take Aim ability slows her, enabling players to hit precision shots then follow up with primary fire for pick. Updraft helps launch her into the air to best utilize this, and her Ultimate Ability, Bola Shot is an explosive AOE that wraps and pulls in enemies.

Map Voting

A Chance of Playing Your Preferred Maps

Season 17 promises a new Flashpoint map titled Aatlis, new map updates, and most important of all – map voting! While the specifics of this mechanic are still very much being developed as of the February Spotlight stream, there have been a few minor details that have been touched on. At the very beginning of a match, all players in a lobby will get to vote on their choice of three different potential maps. The map with the most votes will be selected for the match, and then players will progress with selecting their hero bans.

At this stage, it’s not clear if these will all be maps from the same game modes – Flashpoint, KoTH, etc, or a mixed variety. However, the dev team has also stated that they will be using data regarding which maps are consistently avoided to help revisit them, revamp, and redevelop – making this a very positive gameplay addition for the future of Overwatch.

Hero 44: Aqua

A New Hero Arrival For Season 18

Last, but certainly not least we have yet another hero reveal with Aqua, who is set to arrive as the 44th playable hero in Overwatch 2. Aqua will be available for players to test out during a trial weekend in Season 17 and will go live at the beginning of Season 18. As details regarding Season 18 have been mostly kept under wraps for now, not much is known about this intriguing character.

What we do know about this character, codenamed ‘Aqua’, is that he is a Chinese water-wielder and that the dev team claims he has some of the most unique ability sets that they have developed yet. From a character design perspective, Aqua very likely fits into a Support or DPS role, with Support being the most likely outcome. This is because Hero 42: Hazard, was a Tank, and Hero 43: Freja, is a DPS, meaning that the next rotation should in theory be a Support. All players can do at this stage is wait until more details are revealed later in 2025.