Overwatch 2’s new Perks and modes may not reinvent the wheel, but at least there’s legitimate hope for the game

Overwatch 2’s plans moving forward to deploy a large-scale, revamp-style update each year in an attempt to keep things fresh is a bold strategy.

If Blizzard Entertainment changes too much, it may take away from the base OW2 experience and stray from what makes the hero shooter good in the first place. But if it doesn’t change enough, the game may stagnate and push away existing players looking for something new. But regardless of this push and pull, the announcement of a new Perks system, a Stadium mode, and more big changes to the game make me feel something I haven’t felt about the game in a while—hope.

In 2024, OW2’s revamp included changes to projectiles, hero health pools, and hero role passives. But this time around, the changes feel bigger and more potentially game-changing, while not breaking what makes OW2 great in the first place.

The single biggest addition, Perks, are mid-game upgrades for each hero for things as trivial as passive abilities, to as transformative as totally new abilities or huge buffs to old ones. You can check out the full list of OW2 hero Perks here, but basically, every player will get two Perks in each match.

While they may be difficult to balance at first, the hope is that Blizzard will evolve them over time and keep them fair enough while still being fun and fresh at the outset. The idea of Perks aren’t new in video games, as several other games include this type of mechanic, but for OW2 it could be big. Or, it could end up being a big nothingburger in the end.

Either way, this kind of change to the core gameplay is worth checking out when season 15 goes live on Feb. 18, and it feels like for the first time in a long time, there’s some real positivity and excitement behind OW2’s future if Blizzard is going to be this bold when it comes to these annual updates. It could even pull players away from OW2‘s main competitor right now, the upstart Marvel Rivals.

When it comes to transformative changes, the upcoming Stadium mode arriving in season 16 may be even bolder. Introducing third-person gameplay in a best-of-seven, round-based setting and its own Competitive playlist may attract an entirely new group of players.

Stadium is especially exciting considering that it looks to re-use the upgrade-like assets originally set for the scrapped PvE modes in OW2. Featuring Mods and Traits to customize heroes with new abilities and wild spins on existing ones, it’s the most unique take on OW2 yet, but it’s completely unclear how the playerbase will react to it.

Still, the future of OW2 isn’t entirely “out with the old, in with the new,” because the “old” is back in a big way, too. Season 15 marks the return of loot boxes as free, additional ways to unlock cosmetics, as well as a test for six-vs-six’s return to Competitive Play.

Six-vs-six has been the single biggest request for OW2 since launch, a return to the original player count from OW1. Previous tests have been run over the past couple of seasons, but bringing the two tank, two damage, two support setup back in a Competitive setting will also likely interest players, new and returning alike.

All of these changes plus the other new content coming to OW2, including new heroes like Freja and “Aqua,” along with battle passes, Mythic skins, new collabs, maps, hero bans, map voting, and more set for 2025, all combine for the most hope that the game’s players should feel in a very long time.