Overwatch 2, now renamed simply Overwatch, is undergoing some big changes, with a new seasonal model focused on telling continuous year-long stories. As part of the soft relaunch, Blizzard is coming out strong with five new playable characters, substantially increasing the roster much more than usual at one time. That is bound to have an impact on the meta-game, and Blizzard is well aware.
“It’s going to upset the balance of the game. There’s no getting around that. There’s something very exciting about it though,” Blizzard’s Aaron Keller told GameSpot. “I think what we see with Overwatch is that our players do acclimate to change into new heroes fairly quickly. At the highest levels, it might just be a few days. They could have a handle on these new heroes that quickly and start developing metas for them.”
Those five new characters include one new Tank (Domina), two DPS (Emre, Anran), and two Support (Mizuki, Jetpack Cat). That reflects the team-comp requirements in Overwatch 2, which is a major way that it differentiated itself from the looser restrictions of the first game.
Those characters are part of the new Reign of Talon storyline that will be told throughout 2026. Anran and Jetpack Cat are aligned with Overwatch, while the rest are aligned with Talon. The year-long story will be told through comics, short stories, and in-game cinematics, and Blizzard promises that as the events of the story impact the world, we’ll see it reflected in the game with elements like map changes.
For more on the huge Overwatch refresh, check out our full interview with Aaron Keller, along with all of our major takeaways.