After struggling to make sequel-sized changes, fans think Blizzard might retire the '2' in Overwatch's name based on Season 16 leaks

Blizzard Entertainment somewhat controversially turned its premium hero shooter Overwatch into a freemium live service game Overwatch 2 years ago. Rather than a traditional sequel, Overwatch 2 felt more like a beefy update with sweeping changes and big promises for the future, but the company might now be retiring the '2' in its name.

That's the prevalent theory among fans, at least, after Overwatch 2 Season 16 purportedly leaked early and potentially revealed one notable change to skin cosmetics.

In the game's customization menus, every hero's default skin from the first game is just called Overwatch 1, while their revamped default skins from the kind-of-sequel are called Overwatch 2. The latest leaks claim Overwatch 1 skins will now be called 'Classic,' and Overwatch 2 skins are going to be called 'Valorous,' fuelling theories that Blizzard may delete the '2' entirely.

The leak also includes early looks at Juno's Mythic skin, a remix of Junker Queen's Zeus outfit, and a collaboration with Gundam to continue Overwatch's streak of anime crossovers. (Good spot, Eurogamer.)

Obviously, all that is mere speculation until Activision Blizzard confirms or denies the rumor for themselves. (Or what's more likely is that Season 16 comes and goes with on title changes.)

But Blizzard has long struggled to justify why Overwatch 2 needed to exist as a separate entity, aside from obviously changing how it functions as money-making machine. The sequel's ambitious co-op campaign was scrapped, and the original game's 6v6 dynamic has also come back in the meantime, meaning it's not so far off the 2016 Overwatch experience. (Heck, even loot boxes are back now.) But to the team's credit, Overwatch 2 did recently unveil some enormous changes that include upgradeable perks and massive third-person game mode.

My hopes for an Overwatch anime or Diablo horror movie are going strong as Blizzard president points out "we are Blizzard Entertainment, and not simply Blizzard Games"