Since its announcement in November 2019, Overwatch 2 has been slowly introducing new features to the community. With a new online streaming event confirmed for June 16th, the developer will share more details about the game’s development in the coming months, including the unique PvP beta. Blizzard’s new first-person shooter still doesn’t have a confirmed release date, but the expectation is that it will arrive sometime in 2023.

Among the news already announced are new maps, the heroine Sojourn, and the change in the PvP format to teams of five players instead of the six in the first Overwatch. Below, we have compiled the information already released about the news brought by Overwatch 2 . It is worth remembering that the FPS is expected for PC, PlayStation 4 ( PS4 ), PlayStation 5 ( PS5 ), Xbox One, Xbox Series X / S and Nintendo Switch.

New maps
Seven locations have already been confirmed as new maps for Overwatch 2. Among them, Rio de Janeiro appears as the location that most attracts the attention of the Brazilian community. Announced in May 2021, the Brazilian map was confirmed as a Hybrid type: at first, the attacking team must capture a control point and then drive the payload through the streets and slums of the map, which has locations named in Portuguese.

In addition to Rio, Overwatch 2 ‘s already confirmed maps are New York, Toronto, Rome, Monte Carlo, Gothenburg, and an undisclosed city in India. So far, the community has had access, during beta periods, to New York, Toronto, Rome, and Monte Carlo.

There is still no information about the presence of all maps of the first version of Overwatch in the sequel. During the beta test, the community could test eight maps from the first game, with modifications made by Blizzard. Dorado, Eichenwalde, Ilios, King’s Row, Lijiang Tower, Oasis, Route 66 and Observatory: Gibraltar.

Confirmed characters
Among the characters already confirmed for the game, attention certainly goes to the Canadian Sojourn, the first heroine announced by Blizzard. Born in Toronto, Sojourn is a DPS (damage per second) class and brings his abilities that involve movement, control, and good damage capacity.

His weapon, the Railgun, fires projectiles at high speed with the left mouse button. When they hit a target, the pellets generate energy, which is used to fire a single high-damage hitscan shot using the right mouse button. The Canadian also has the Power Slide ability, which makes her slide in the direction the user is moving, gaining bonus movement speed. Power Slide can also be canceled with a jump, resulting in a high jump.

Her ultimate, Overclock, allows her to gain power with the Railgun for a short period. It also brings with it Disrupt Shot, a skill that launches a projectile of energy to deal damage and slow the movement speed of enemies caught in the area of ​​effect. Additionally, while Overclock is active, your weapon’s charged shots gain the ability to penetrate hit enemies, potentially dealing splash damage.

As for the characters present in Overwatch, all of them have been confirmed for the sequel. In addition to Sojourn and the likely new heroes that will be new in the second game, the community can look forward to the return of their favorite DPS, Tanks, and Supports such as Tracer, Genji, Lúcio, Mercy, D.VA, and Reinhardt. Heroes from the first game will have updated looks and changes to their skill kit to adapt to the new title.

Gameplay news
The most significant novelty in gameplay announced so far is the reduction in the size of teams, which now have five players each instead of six. The first objective of the change is to make it easier for players to understand by reducing the amount of information and effects present on the screen. It also aims to increase the individual impact of players in the match so that each team member can feel a more significant contribution with reduced teams.

One of these changes announced by Blizzard is the presence of class-specific passive abilities. The change will make the team composition bring two Supports, two DPSs, and only one Tank. This, consequently, will lead to changes in the balance of the classes so that the gameplay remains harmonious.

DPS Heroes will now have a movement speed buff, while Supports will receive automatic health regeneration when not taking damage for a few seconds. Tanks will have their knockback duration reduced, and enemies that hit them will generate less charge for their Ultimates.

Another novelty announced for the gameplay is Push, a new game mode. In it, the two teams face each other on a symmetrical map and must fight for control of a payload in the center of the map. Both teams can take control of the robot at any time, and similar to a game of tug of war, the team that has pushed the objective closer to the enemy base wins. The new maps of Rome and Toronto bring Push as their game mode.

New information
New information can be expected by the Overwatch community later in June. That’s because developer Blizzard has announced that a new online live streaming event will take place on the 16th. And also about the upcoming FPS PvP beta.