New heroes, rebrand and 2026 roadmap

Overwatch Highlight revealed Blizzard’s plans for its hero shooter in 2026, and the plans are formidable. This features a rebranding, with Overwatch 2 dropping the two, marking the top of an period for the title. Season 20 will thus lead into Season 1 of the brand new Overwatch, with the sport taking a stronger, story-driven path.

Overwatch may have 10 new heroes, 5 of which have been revealed, and all of it feels just like the path that was initially supposed nearly three and a half years in the past. Some have said that the success of Marvel Rivals has compelled Blizzard’s hand and this new path. Both manner, it’s good to see Overwatch kick into a brand new gear to start out off 2026.

So, let’s take a look at every little thing that was introduced on the Overwatch Highlight, together with all the brand new heroes, the rebrand, and the roadmap going ahead.

With Overwatch 2 dropping the two, it’s clear that Blizzard needs the world to know it’s moving into a brand new path with the sport after the Overwatch Highlight. Since its launch in 2022, OW2 has been cruising slightly than forging forward, and it’s protected to say that the sport wasn’t what individuals had been on the lookout for, particularly with the damaged guarantees across the Story Mode that by no means was.

Fortunately, this Overwatch rebrand, beginning with Season 1 on February 10, means Overwatch is heading in a story-driven path, with Overwatch’s rival organisation being the main target, therefore the title: The Reign of Talon. This sees the return of the Pixar-style animated shorts that had been so beloved throughout Overwatch 1’s early reign.

Overwatch Season 1 comes with the Conquest Meta Occasion, a five-week occasion the place gamers full missions tied to the lore for both Overwatch or Talon. Additionally, you will get rewards for the occasion, that are as follows:

The menu UI has received a facelift too, with Blizzard stating that its previous one was starting to really feel outdated. This additionally consists of updates to the foyer, play playing cards, navigation, hero gallery, and social panel, in addition to a brand new 3D foyer. 

There will even be a reward system in Overwatch Season 1, the place gamers can present accolades for particular jobs finished effectively. This consists of an MVP award and appears much like the system that Blizzard used for Heroes of the Storm.

Season 1 additionally sees adjustments to the roles, splitting the lessons into sub-classes for additional classification. These sub-classes include sure passive perks, too. Right here is how each hero will likely be divided into these sub-classes:

There’ll, in fact, be extra skins. The headliner for Overwatch Season 1 would be the Hey Kitty and Buddies collaboration, with Kiriko, Juno, Mercy, D.Va, Widowmaker, and Lucio all benefitting. 

On high of the Hey Kitty collab, there will even be some faction-tied skins for The Reign of Talon theme. Mei will get her first mythic pores and skin within the mid-season, whereas Mercy and Juno will get a brand new mythic pores and skin every.

Blizzard has introduced that there will likely be 10 new Overwatch heroes over the yr, nearly as many as when Overwatch 2 began in 2022. It’s a giant push, with 5 heroes being revealed and set to hitch the roster on February 10.

Listed below are the 5 Overwatch new heroes sure for a February 10 launch.

Domina is the heiress and vp of Vishkar Industries, allying with Talon via a partnership with Vendetta. Her expertise makes her a poke tank, much like Sigma, and she or he is accountable for the identical firm that Symmetra works for, with some joking that she’s ‘Symmetra Professional Max’. 

Emre was a former Overwatch Strike Workforce member who has defected to Talon. His cybernetic enhancements appear to place his thoughts in battle, making him typically act as the person he was and different instances act indifferent. 

He’s constructed for a run-and-gun playstyle, quick and livid, which his skills replicate:

A member of the Talon-aligned Hashamoto clan, he has change into a key member of his clan regardless of many believing he wasn’t fitted to the life. As a assist with damaging skills, he’s billed as versatile, and whereas he’s at present pro-Talon, he might be a turncoat sooner or later.

His versatile package has the next skills:

Wuyang’s elder sister, Anran wields the facility of fireplace, the other of her brother. She joined Overwatch with the hope of saving the world and protecting her brother out of hassle. She is pure harm, not like Wuyang, which fits her aspect effectively. She will likely be accessible for early entry from February 5.

Her fiery package provides her the next skills:

Jetpack Cat has been a long-awaited hero, and weirdly doesn’t have an precise title like the opposite animal characters, like Winston or Wrecking Ball. Nobody actually is aware of what Jetpack Cat’s backstory is, aside from that she randomly turned up in Gibraltar and is now an Overwatch member, wielding a jetpack.

Her skills symbolize her feline nature effectively:

There’s a lot to get enthusiastic about with the Overwatch roadmap. With new characters, UI fixes, much more collabs, and a story-driven focus that gamers have wished since Overwatch 1 began pumping out cinematics, it’s clear that Blizzard Leisure is kicking it up a notch with its Recreation of the 12 months-winning hero shooter.

The headline will, in fact, be the ten heroes coming to the Overwatch 2026 calendar, however there may be a lot extra popping out. Dropping the two in Overwatch 2 could be the rebranding the sport must regain the crown because the king of hero shooters.