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Blizzard has unveiled a major overhaul for Overwatch, removing the 2 from the name, introducing multiple new Heroes, beginning a new story arc, new events, and much more!

This page acts as a comprehensive breakdown of the Overwatch overhaul roadmap, including the release date for Season 1.

Overwatch Season 1 Release Date

Overwatch Season 1 will launch on February 10, 2026.

New Season 1 Heroes

A total of 5 new Heroes will be debuting simultaneously alongside Season 1, and they are as follows:


Domina (Tank)
Photon Magnum (Primary Fire) - Medium-range beam that culminates in a high impact shot. Barrier Array - A segmented hard‑light barrier deployed in front of Domina. Each segment must be individually destroyed, creating dynamic defensive angles. Crystal Charge - Project an explosive crystal and reactivate to denotate it. Sonic Repulsors - Push enemies back, stunning them if they hit a wall. Ultimate — Panopticon - Fire a hard-light barrier that imprisons enemies and detonates on expiration. Passive – Reconstruction - Dealing damage with abilities restores shields.

Domina (Tank)

Photon Magnum (Primary Fire) - Medium-range beam that culminates in a high impact shot.
Barrier Array - A segmented hard‑light barrier deployed in front of Domina. Each segment must be individually destroyed, creating dynamic defensive angles.
Crystal Charge - Project an explosive crystal and reactivate to denotate it.
Sonic Repulsors - Push enemies back, stunning them if they hit a wall.
Ultimate — Panopticon - Fire a hard-light barrier that imprisons enemies and detonates on expiration.
Passive – Reconstruction - Dealing damage with abilities restores shields.


Emre (Damage)
Synthetic Burst Rifle (Primary Fire) - Three-round burst weapon. Take Aim (Secondary Fire) - Hold to zoom in, tightening accuracy and increasing fall off range. Siphon Blaster - Temporarily wield a semi-automatic pistol with life stealing explosive rounds. Move faster and jump higher while wielded. Cyber Frag - Throw a grenade that detonates shortly after bouncing. Ultimate — Override Protocol - An override initiates, transforming you into a living weapon. Fires rapid explosive blasts or charged mega‑shots capable of wiping teams. Passive – Altered Vitals - Passive health regeneration activates sooner and instantly restores 30 health when activated.

Emre (Damage)

Synthetic Burst Rifle (Primary Fire) - Three-round burst weapon.
Take Aim (Secondary Fire) - Hold to zoom in, tightening accuracy and increasing fall off range.
Siphon Blaster - Temporarily wield a semi-automatic pistol with life stealing explosive rounds. Move faster and jump higher while wielded.
Cyber Frag - Throw a grenade that detonates shortly after bouncing.
Ultimate — Override Protocol - An override initiates, transforming you into a living weapon. Fires rapid explosive blasts or charged mega‑shots capable of wiping teams.
Passive – Altered Vitals - Passive health regeneration activates sooner and instantly restores 30 health when activated.


Mizuki (Support)
Spirit Glaive (Primary Fire) - Throw a spinning blade that can bounce off walls, impact enemies and rapidly deal damage. Healing Kasa - Throw your hat to heal an ally, bouncing to nearby allies and healing you when it returns. Katashiro Return - Leap forward, leaving behind a paper doll. Reactivate to return and gain increased movement speed while active. Binding Chain - Launch a tethering chain that hinders the first enemy hit. Ultimate — Kekkai Sanctuary - Create a sanctuary that heals allies and absorbs enemy projectiles from outside the area. Passive – Remedy Aura - Heals nearby allies. Healing scales with resources generated by dealing damage and healing.

Mizuki (Support)

Spirit Glaive (Primary Fire) - Throw a spinning blade that can bounce off walls, impact enemies and rapidly deal damage.
Healing Kasa - Throw your hat to heal an ally, bouncing to nearby allies and healing you when it returns.
Katashiro Return - Leap forward, leaving behind a paper doll. Reactivate to return and gain increased movement speed while active.
Binding Chain - Launch a tethering chain that hinders the first enemy hit.
Ultimate — Kekkai Sanctuary - Create a sanctuary that heals allies and absorbs enemy projectiles from outside the area.
Passive – Remedy Aura - Heals nearby allies. Healing scales with resources generated by dealing damage and healing.


Anran (Damage)
Zhuque Fans (Primary Fire) - Hand fans that shoot fiery projectiles. Fan the Flames (Secondary Fire) - Hot wind blast that amplifies burning damage. Inferno Rush - Propel yourself forward and damage enemies you impact. Dancing Blaze - Strike nearby enemies while dodging all damage. Ultimate — Vermillion Ascent (Alive) - Charge forward, exploding on impact and instantly igniting enemies. Ultimate — Vermillion Revival (Dead) - When dead, revive yourself in a fiery explosion. Passive – Ignition - Hit enemies with fire attacks to burn them.

Anran (Damage)

Zhuque Fans (Primary Fire) - Hand fans that shoot fiery projectiles.
Fan the Flames (Secondary Fire) - Hot wind blast that amplifies burning damage.
Inferno Rush - Propel yourself forward and damage enemies you impact.
Dancing Blaze - Strike nearby enemies while dodging all damage.
Ultimate — Vermillion Ascent (Alive) - Charge forward, exploding on impact and instantly igniting enemies.
Ultimate — Vermillion Revival (Dead) - When dead, revive yourself in a fiery explosion.
Passive – Ignition - Hit enemies with fire attacks to burn them.


Jetpack Cat (Support)
Biotic Pawjectiles (Primary Fire) - Mid‑range projectile spread that heals allies and damages enemies. Lifeline - Toggle into transport mode, allowing an ally to be towed. Increases movement speed and heals your ally. Frenetic Flight - Accelerate in your movement direction. Fuel recovery is slower while carrying another player. Purr - Pulsing area heal that increases in frequency over time. Knockback nearby enemies when activated. Ultimate — Catnapper - Dive towards a ground location, knocking down enemies and tethering the nearest one to you. Passive – Jetpack - Permanent flight.

Jetpack Cat (Support)

Biotic Pawjectiles (Primary Fire) - Mid‑range projectile spread that heals allies and damages enemies.
Lifeline - Toggle into transport mode, allowing an ally to be towed. Increases movement speed and heals your ally.
Frenetic Flight - Accelerate in your movement direction. Fuel recovery is slower while carrying another player.
Purr - Pulsing area heal that increases in frequency over time. Knockback nearby enemies when activated.
Ultimate — Catnapper - Dive towards a ground location, knocking down enemies and tethering the nearest one to you.
Passive – Jetpack - Permanent flight.

Additionally, a new Hero will also be added in each of Seasons 2-6, so there will consistently be new characters in the roster for you to experiment with and master.

Sub-Roles and Passives

From Season 1 onwards, Tanks, Damage, and Support heroes are now divided into sub‑roles:

TANK
- BRUISER: Reduces critical damage received. While at critical health, gain movement speed.
  - Mauga / Orisa / Roadhog / Zarya
- INITIATOR: Staying airborne lightly heals you.
  - D.Va / Doomfist / Winston / Wrecking Ball
- STALWART: Reduces knockbacks and slows received.
  - Domina / Hazard / Junker Queen / Ramattra / Reinhardt / Sigma
DAMAGE
- SHARPSHOOTER: Critical hits reduce your movement ability cooldowns.
  - Ashe / Cassidy / Hanzo / Sojourn / Widowmaker
- FLANKER: Health packs restore more health.
  - Anran / Genji / Reaper / Tracer / Vendetta / Venture
- SPECIALIST: Eliminating an enemy briefly increases your reload speed.
  - Bastion / Emre / Junkrat / Mei / Soldier: 76 / Symmetra / Torbjorn
- RECON: You detect enemies below half health through walls after damaging them.
  - Echo / Freja / Pharah / Sombra
SUPPORT
- TACTICIAN: You can gain excess ultimate charge, which carries over after using your ultimate ability.
  - Ana / Baptiste / Jetpack Cat / Lucio / Zenyatta
- MEDIC: Healing allies with your weapon also heals you.
  - Kiriko / Lifeweaver / Mercy / Moira
- SURVIVOR: Using a movement ability activates passive health regeneration.
  - Brigitte / Illari / Juno / Mizuki / Wuyang

New Story Arc

In a first for the game, a year-long storyline is beginning with the debut of Season 1, with the arc being titled "The Reign of Talon". As you might guess, this suggests the Talon faction will be continuing its efforts to take over the world while Overwatch fights back.

Throughout the storyline new hero trailers, animated comics, short stories, and map updates will flesh out the story across the 6 Seasons of Year 1. It has also already been confirmed that a new story arc will subsequently begin alongside a new Season 1 in 2027.

Conquest Event

Conquest is a new meta event in-game where players will choose to side with either Overwatch or Talon across a 5-week timespan. During this time, the opposing sides will compete for various rewards including lootboxes, skins, titles and more! The full list of available rewards are as follows:

75 Base Lootboxes
12 Epic Lootboxes
7 Legendary Lootboxes
9 new Voice Lines
31 2D Cosmetics
2 Weapon Charms
1 of 2 faction-themed Legendary Echo skins
Exclusive new Rare, Epic and Legendary titles (and a secret hidden one!)

Hello Kitty Event

It has been announced that from February 10 to February 23, there will be a special in-game event themed around Hello Kitty and Friends, complete with several themed Skins to collect!

UI/UX Refresh

Season 1 will also introduce updates to the lobby, play cards, navigation, hero gallery, and social panel. Additionally, a Notification Hub will consolidate important updates so you never miss key news items.

Season 1 will feature a new 3D lobby with the selected hero displayed, and Season 4 will expand this to include all group members.

Stadium

Stadium will continue to see updates, and with the launch of Season 1 Vendetta will be added to the lineup. Competitive Stadium has also seen changes, as Power rounds now run 1/2/4/6 to improve game flow and build evolution across the match.

Season 2 Details

As part of Season 2 (debuting in Spring 2026), we are set to receive the following content and more:

A brand new Hero
Overwatch 10 Year Anniversary celebrations
Post Match Accolades
New Stadium Hero - Ramattra
New Mythics

Season 3 Details

As part of Season 3 (debuting in Summer 2026), we are set to receive the following content and more:

A brand new Hero
New Map - Japan Night
New Mythics

Season 4 Details

As part of Season 4 (debuting in Fall 2026), we are set to receive the following content and more:

A brand new Hero

Full Season 1 Details

If you wish to read about all updates coming as part of Season 1, you can do so via the official Overwatch websites Season 1 Details blog post.

Up Next: Overwatch Season 1 Midcycle Details

Overwatch Season 2: Summit Details and Patch Notes

Overwatch Season 1 Midcycle Details

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