Blizzard announces biggest Overwatch update ever – Vendetta cinematic, 10 heroes per year, and rebranding without the 2

Blizzard held its second annual Overwatch Spotlight presentation, unveiling massive changes coming to the hero shooter in 2026. The next season is positioned as a complete overhaul – so significant that Blizzard is calling it "Season One" instead of Season 21 and dropping the 2 from the game's title.

New cinematic and year-long narrative arc

The presentation opened with a new cinematic featuring Vendetta and Doomfist. The sword-wielding villain has starred in Overwatch's recent external media content, plotting to claim her rightful place at the helm of terrorist organization Talon. Her father, Antonio Bartalotti, was killed during the Retribution Archives event in 2018, and after his death she lost the organizational connections she was promised. Now Vendetta has arrived at Doomfist's doorstep to seize control of Talon by force.

The cinematic launches the first of Overwatch's planned annual narrative arcs, which will unfold through periodic lore updates throughout the year. Instead of fragmented character stories that Blizzard typically released through comics and shorts, all content over the next year will be part of a unified story with a beginning, middle, and end. Changes will be reflected in-game through map updates, new pre-match dialogue reflecting the current story state, and in-game events. The first event will let players side with either Overwatch or Talon, similar to Splatfest in Splatoon. The story concludes in Season 6, with a new arc beginning in 2027.

Ten new heroes in one year

One of Season One's most significant changes – five new heroes arriving February 10 at season launch. This includes previously revealed DPS heroes Anran and Emre, tank Domina, and two support heroes – Jetpack Cat and Mizuki.

But that's only half the new heroes coming to the game in 2026. One new hero will launch in each of the next five seasons. While their identities remain unknown, Blizzard showed silhouettes – one resembling a mech pilot like D.Va, another appearing to be an Omnic.

Sub-role system

Overwatch has three roles, but Blizzard is adding diversity to how they function through a sub-role system. These further divide the three main roles, giving each hero a personalized passive ability instead of identical advantages for all Tanks, DPS, or Supports.

Tanks split into Bruiser (reduced critical damage, speed boost at critical health), Initiator (healing while airborne), and Stalwart (reduced knockback and slows). DPS gained categories of Sharpshooter (critical hits reduce movement ability cooldowns), Flanker (health packs restore more health), Specialist (eliminations speed up reload), and Recon (detect wounded enemies through walls). Supports divide into Tactician (accumulate excess ultimate charge), Medic (healing allies heals the hero), and Survivor (movement abilities activate regeneration).

Competitive mode and interface updates

The new season brings a competitive mode refresh with rewards including a new red Crimson Wolf weapon variant, a Doomfist skin for Diamond+ ranks, challenger tier integration, FaceIt tournament invites, and rarity-based competitive titles arriving in Season 2.

Overwatch receives a massive interface overhaul with complete redesigns of the hero gallery, social panel, main menu, and notification hub for faster navigation. Season One adds a new 3D hero lobby that expands to a full party in Season 4.

Stadium mode also gets updated icons for improved readability and a Hero Builder that provides build recommendations for characters during long matches. Vendetta joins the mode's roster.

Skins and Hello Kitty collaboration

Mercy receives her second customizable Mythic Skin, while Mei gets her first at mid-season. Six characters receive new skins as part of a Sanrio collaboration – Juno becomes Hello Kitty, Kiriko gets Cinnamoroll, Mercy receives Pompompurin, D.Va gets My Melody, Widowmaker becomes Kuromi, and Lucio gets Keroppi.

Future seasons feature planned Mythic Skins for Soldier: 76, Ana, Illari, Mauga, and Genji, plus Mythic Weapons for Genji, Hanzo, and Sojourn.

Return of post-match accolades and Switch 2 upgrade

Original Overwatch let players vote for player achievements – high damage or objective time. Blizzard is bringing back this feature in updated form: instead of simple cards, accolades display on a new screen showing hero models in the skins players used during the match.

Overwatch finally gets a Switch 2 update in Season 2, which should make the game truly playable on the portable console.

All changes go live February 10 with Season One's start, when Overwatch 2 officially becomes simply Overwatch again.