Overwatch 2: Season 5 Release Date, New Limited-Time Event & More

Checking out the Overwatch 2 Roadmap for Season 5 and beyond.

After months of waiting, the Overwatch 2 team finally showed us their content roadmap for the next 3 seasons, and it's filled to the brim with tons of new updates.

If you've been a fan since 2019, you were one of the hundreds of thousands excited for the long-awaited Overwatch PvE roadmap that was promised way back in 2019. Much to the disappointment of fans, the developers announced on the broadcast that they would not be going forward with the original vision of the PvE due to “internal pressure”. But although the much-anticipated Hero mode was axed, the good news is that players will still be getting story mission content in the next 6 months. Rest in peace, Talent Trees.

With all that out of the way, let's look at the biggest drops from the developer chat livestream.

When is Overwatch 2 Season 5 starting?

While there isn't an official start date yet, if we take the Battle Pass expiration date into account, we'll most likely see the new competitive season begin on or around June 13, 2023.

Hero Reworks

The latest content roadmap confirmed that Roadhog and Sombra reworks are currently in the works for Season 7 and beyond. This exciting news also comes with a new future cinematic. And though we don't know which hero it'll be about, it's nice to see that we're getting new cinematics every other season.

Questwatch

Our next season theme seems to be taking a very “Dungeons & Dragons” route. From the looks of things, we might be getting another experimental PvE game mode aptly named “Mischeif and Magic”. The map that came with the announcement showed a bunch of locations over a generic fantasy landscape. This is in line with the developers' intentions of delving more into “non-canon events” with the Overwatch IP. The audience is definitely there, but only time will tell if it'll be a critical hit for the fans, or a nat 1.

New Hero Hints

The graphic used for the “New Support Hero” section in the roapmap featured a section of a poster that's already in the game. In an Antarctic Peninsula spawn room, you can find the poster supposedly depicting the waterfalls of Peru. This reference is a pretty strong hint that the next hero might be Peruvian, but Overwatch 2 hero reveals have been known to subvert expectations.

As expressed previously, we will be getting 2 new Support heroes before seeing our next tank, which many online speculate to be the Samoan Talon operative “Mauga”. As seen in the comics, this heavy assault operative carried two powerful machine guns into battle. Mauga was initially intended to be released as Hero 31, but his kit was repurposed for Sigma instead.

Could #Overwatch2's next Support Hero be from Peru? 🇵🇪

As mentioned in today's roadmap, the next hero is due to be released in Season 6. The Overwatch Team used a picture of Peru (as seen on another map) as the background image. pic.twitter.com/WntJMnxO7O

— Overwatch Cavalry (@OWCavalry) May 17, 2023

Summer Games

Seasonal events have been a mainstay for Overwatch since the original game came out. Coinciding with the Overwatch League's Midsummer Madness, players can look forward to earning Olympics-themed rewards and cosmetic items once the Summer Games event rolls around. This year's Summer Games will also introduce fresh players to Lucioball!

On Fire returns!

A beloved feature from the original game makes its way back to Overwatch 2. Long-time fans will be able to recognize this as the flaming hero buff that came when you went on a killstreak in-game. There's no substantial buff that comes with being “On Fire”, but your chances of being the MVP in a game increases the longer you stay in it.

Unbeknownst to most, you can also earn the status whenever you healed allies, denied objectives and completed them. Special changes might be done to make being on fire feel new in the sequel, but we'll have to wait and see.

Hero Mastery

Game Director Aaron Keller led the announcement for Overwatch 2's newest addition to their competitive playscape: Hero Mastery. These single-player obstacle courses will be timed challenges to gauge your proficiency on your favorite Overwatch heroes. Considering the nature of the game mode, it would make for a great time-killer when you're in-between matches. Check back here for the latest updates!

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