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Summary
- There’s a ton of exciting activities for all types of players on the horizon in Season 3, with a new map, Battle Pass, and even a full dating sim for Valentine’s Day.
- Matchmaking, competitive, Hero balance tweaks, and more have been implemented to improve the overall experience in Overwatch 2.
- Overwatch 2 is available to play for free on Xbox Series X|S. Grab it here from the Xbox Store.
It’s time to bundle up and prepare for an arctic chill with the launch of Overwatch 2 – Season 3 on Tuesday, February 7, kicking off a month of exciting activities for all types of players with a new map, Battle Pass, and tons of other fun surprises in store.
New Reward System and Permanent Discounts on Epic and Legendary Overwatch Skins
One of the big changes for Overwatch 2 – Season 3 will be the rollout of 10 additional tiers of rewards along the free track. Part of this includes 1500 Credits to spend in the Hero Gallery in addition to 500 additional Credits for the Premium track.
If you’ve been holding out on dropping some Coins or Credits on Epic and Legendary skins, then you’re in luck. Prices have been lowered on nearly all 300 of these skins from the original game and can be found in the Hero Gallery – these will always be available for purchase with Coins or Credits.
This is in addition to the login bonuses and the in-game challenges that are part of Season 3. This will include a new, earnable Legendary Overwatch 2 Skin that will be part of an upcoming IP collaboration with Japanese Anime “One-Punch Man” to bring themed skins and cosmetics to the game, including Twitch Drops, all of which are detailed here on the official Overwatch Blog.
Take Control of the Antarctica Peninsula
Antarctic Peninsula is the first new Control map for Overwatch 2 and takes inspiration from the iconic Ecopoint base featured in the “Rise and Shine” animated short that chronicled some of Mei’s backstory. The base, created by Overwatch to help find the cause of the planet’s radical change in climate, housed many scientists, along with Mei, who were in the middle of this research when they were trapped by a massive storm. Deciding to enter cryostasis to wait for rescue by Overwatch, Mei would be the only one to survive this ordeal and awaken some 10 years later. It was from here that she dedicated herself to carrying on the work of her fellow scientists.
This snow-themed map will include several lore tidbits scattered throughout for eagle-eyed fans to find, like an ice-breaker ship stuck in the ice that attempted to save Mei and her friends, as well as an underground drilling station that hints at some of work these scientists were up to.
“There are so many areas that we think players are going to love exploring in the new Antarctica map,” mentions Overwatch 2 Art Director Dion Rogers. “But I will say that fighting in an abandoned ice breaker ship is pretty rad.”
Additional level designs will feature flanks and high ground elements that can make or break a team’s success. Also, be sure to say hello to some of the facility’s current residents…
“Antarctica is a unique map.” says Overwatch 2 Lead Narrative Designer Gavin Jurgens-Fyhrie. “Not only does it hint at the mysterious answers to a number of long-standing questions about the lore, it spans a number of locations in Antarctica, offering a lot of gameplay variety, new places to explore, and easter eggs to find. It also has penguins,”
New Accessibility and Game Balancing Features
In addition to all the Season 3 details, a series of matchmaking, competitive, Hero balance tweaks, and more have been implemented to improve the overall experience in Overwatch 2 – check out the official blog for a complete breakdown of this.
There has also been a slew of accessibility updates as well, like text scalability, character portrait icons, speaker name, text color changes, background color changes, and subtitle preview. In addition, a setting to select custom colors for Group and Alerts in the UI, which can be previewed before saving for easier setup. You can find all these features as part of Overwatch 2 – Season 3.
Overwatch 2 is for Lovers in February
This month, Overwatch 2 will have two Valentine’s themed events. The first up will be a text-based dating sim (seriously) where you can choose to spend quality time with either Mercy or Genji with Hanzo… er, Cupid… as your guide. We’ll have to see how this shakes out when it launches February 13 on Loverwatch.gg, but it seems like a fun way to get to know a few of the Heroes from Overwatch a little better. If you manage to unlock the secret ending, you’ll be rewarded with a themed Play of the Game highlight. There will also be the Overwatch: Ultimate Valentine event available from February 14 to 28; stay tuned to the official Overwatch Blog for more details in a few weeks.
PachiMarchi Returns
Everyone’s favorite adorable onion… thing… is back! PachiMarchi will be part of a new limited time Kill Confirmed game mode from March 21 to April 4 where you can earn up to six unique player icons, a weapon charm, name card, and an epic Roadhog skin — if it’s anything like last time, expect another series of adorable designs to cover our favorite one-man apocalypse. Stay tuned for further details when the PachMarchi event kicks off on March 21.
Jump in and start playing Overwatch 2 today for free on Xbox Series X|S and don’t forget to stay tuned for all the awesome in-game activities on the horizon.
Overwatch® 2
Blizzard Entertainment
36 HEROES, 23 MAPS AND 6 GAME MODES
Lead the charge, ambush your enemies, or aid your allies as one of 36 distinct heroes. Take them into battle across 23 futuristic maps inspired by real-world locations, and master six unique game modes.
SEASON TWO IS NOW LIVE
New heroes, maps, and game modes will be added in seasonal updates every nine weeks. Drop into Season Two to unlock the latest hero, Ramattra, and over 20 tiers of completely free rewards on the Battle Pass. Purchase the Premium Battle Pass to unlock even more cosmetic rewards including the all-new Mythic Zeus Junker Queen skin, legendary skins, sprays, voice lines, weapon charms, and more!
A mobile phone number must be linked to your Battle.net Account to play Overwatch.
Overwatch® 2: Watchpoint Pack
Blizzard Entertainment Inc.
The pack includes the following Overwatch® 2 in-game content: Season Two Premium Battle Pass, 7 Legendary skins (including 2 all-new Space Raider skins), 5 Epic skins, 2,000 Overwatch® Coins and instant access to all 32 Overwatch 1 Heroes as well as the new Tank hero Ramattra.*
With the Season Two Premium Battle Pass you can unlock over 80 Tiers of rewards including Mythic Zeus Junker Queen, Legendary Poseidon Ramattra, and more. In addition, as a Season Two Premium Battle Pass owner you will automatically receive access to Overwatch’s latest hero, Ramattra!*
A mobile phone number must be linked to your Battle.net Account to play Overwatch.
*Instant Access to the Season Two Battle Pass subject to logging in to Overwatch 2 during Season Two. Provides the Season Two Battle Pass and will not award access to heroes, Battle Passes or seasonal/live content introduced after Season Two.