Overwatch 2 2025 Competitive Year Details - All Changes and Loot Box Updates
Blizzard is positioning 2025 as the year Overwatch 2 PvP reaches its “next evolution.” That starts with Season 15’s introduction of several new features and a pipeline of other changes coming throughout the year.
While not every big change will drop with Season 15, Overwatch 2 is going to look drastically different in 2025 than it did in 2024 once Blizzard drops its planned competitive updates. From Perks and the new Stadium mode to Hero Bans and Map Voting, here is everything related to competitive modes coming to OW2 this year.
Overwatch 2 Season 15: All Competitive Changes
When Overwatch 2 Season 15 goes live on Feb. 18 it will officially start the 2025 Competitive Season for the game. This means a ranked reset will drop for all players and several new pieces of content will be added.
Along with the ranked reset, new competitive Galactic Weapons “designed to give players the power of the stars” will also be obtainable. The usual Weapon Charms, Player Portraits, and other ranked rewards will refresh with new designs as players climb and grind.
Blizzard is also bringing the 6v6 queue back to competitive, adding Overwatch Classic: GOATS to the game for Season 15. This brings the notorious Overwatch 1 meta from 2019 into OW2 as its own format for anyone who wants to revisit it or try it out for the first time.
Perks Added to Overwatch 2
The biggest competitive change in Season 15 is the introduction of Perks to OW2. These new mechanics give players the ability to change how heroes play by selecting different Perks that alter how abilities work at every level.
Throughout a match, players will level up their hero of choice and unlock the ability to choose between two Minor Perks at level 2 and a choice between two Major Perks at level 3. Minor Perks are smaller upgrades to existing abilities that are designed to give players an early boost and flexibility in their approach to a match. Think something like Torbjorn getting a new passive for Forge Hammer or Overload, or giving Lucio’s Bass Blowout getting boosted knockback.
Major Perks are something Blizzard describes as “shifting your core gameplay loop” because they can completely change how a hero plays. These can overcharge a hero’s existing moves, such as giving Baptiste access to his shoulder turrets for extra healing when using Amplification Matrix or having Orisa swap her Javelin Spin for a version of her previously removed Protective Barrier.
“Every decision—whether it was deciding how powerful perks should be, crafting trade-offs, or ensuring balance across heroes—was made to keep the core Overwatch DNA intact,” Overwatch 2 lead game designer Alec Dawson said. “We spent a lot of time debating scenarios where “less is more,” striking the delicate balance of giving players fun perks without making things chaotic or unfair.”
Overwatch 2 Season 15: Loot Box Details and Odds
Overwatch 2 is bringing back Loot Boxes. This will be the first time this randomized mechanic is available after it was scrapped in the sequel title.
With Loot Boxes making a comeback, Blizzard is going to place them as battle pass, weekly, and event rewards. Specifically, you can earn one Legendary Loot Box in the Free Battle Pass and two more in the Premium Battle Pass. Additional details on OW2 Loot Boxes will be shared just ahead of Season 15’s release on Feb. 18, but here are all of the drop rates for both Loot Box types.
Regular Loot Box Drop Rates | Legendary Loot Box Drop Rates |
|---|---|
Common - 97.97% | Common - 97.97% |
Rare - 96.26% | Rare - 96.26% |
Epic - 21.93% | Epic - 21.93% |
Legendary - 5.10% | Legendary - 100% |
Blizzard has confirmed that players are guaranteed to pull a Rare or better item in every Loot Box they open. Additionally, opening five consecutive Loot Boxes will guarantee an Epic item while 20 consecutive boxes will lock in a Legendary item.
Overwatch 2 Competitive Changes Coming in 2025: Stadium, Hero Bans, and Map Voting
Throughout 2025 Blizzard plans to add multiple new twists to Overwatch 2 in order to keep the game fresh and change how players approach the competitive scene—beyond Perks in Season 15 and new heroes.
Season 16, which will launch in April, is going to introduce the new Stadium game mode that Blizzard wants to prop up right beside Quick Play and Competitive. Hero Bans will also be introduced, though there is no additional information on how Blizzard plans to handle that.
At some point later this year, there are also plans to add Map Voting so players can actually have a say in where they play in every match, adding yet another element to strategizing your approach to a match. Blizzard notes that these are “just a few of the many systems being worked on,” with more details to be shared later.
Stadium Mode Introduced With Ranked in Season 16
Just like how Perks will change Overwatch 2’s gameplay, Stadium will give players an entirely new way to experience the game at every level. And, even though it won’t launch until April, Blizzard has already shared a detailed look at how it will work.
Stadium is a new game mode that the Overwatch team claims is “the biggest game mode they’ve ever made” and is supposed to be an entirely new way to experience OW2. It will feature a casual and competitive queue completely isolated from Quick Play and the normal Competitive modes.
Stadium pits two teams of five against each other in a best-of-seven series where they need to defeat each other while working to earn in-game currency based on their performances. That currency is then used in the Armory to purchase Items that can be paired with Powers to modify how each hero plays.
Players will only have limited time in the Armory to purchase items and equip Powers between rounds. Every player starts with 3,000 currency, and more is given to players each round based on eliminations, assists, and both damage or healing dealt.
This will be the first game mode in Overwatch history to start players in a third-person view, though you can swap back to first-person whenever you want. It will be played across Control, Push, and Clash modes, with the first team to earn four points taking the win.
Stadium will include “at least” 14 heroes when it launches in Season 16, with more heroes, maps, and even additional modes being added in the future. More details will be shared closer to the April release.
