Overwatch 2 Developer Blog: Tuning Hero Balance for Launch

news.blizzard.com:

October 4th is on the horizon and the team has been hard at work preparing for the launch of Overwatch 2. For today’s update, let’s take some time to talk about Hero Balance for launch day, and break down our philosophy and approach to balancing the game with our new seasonal model for Overwatch 2.

Overwatch 2 brings with it a new 9-week Season cadence that will consistently introduce new maps, heroes, game modes, and more for players to experience. For heroes more specifically, our plan is to typically release a new hero every other season, which combined with our ongoing additions of new maps and game modes and our regular balance updates, should reward different strategies and playstyles, keeping the game fresh and dynamic for years to come.

Importantly, each season will also see impactful hero balance changes as the season begins to support our goals of constantly balancing the game and keeping the live service feeling dynamic. This means new seasons will feel more distinct and special with balance changing significantly when we move to the next season. We are also prepared to make additional balance adjustments if the need within a season arises to manage hero balance and power and keep our game feeling fair and fun.

The second public Beta brought with it an abundance of hero performance data. This, along with player feedback from the broader community and professional players, has been instrumental in defining the hero balance landscape at launch. Informed by this data and feedback, the Hero Design team has mapped out some balance updates that players from the Beta will recognize as changed from the end of our second public Beta test earlier this year. You’ll have an opportunity to see most of these changes in action