Blizzard Entertainment yesterday announced major plans for Overwatch 2, which is now just Overwatch again because why the hell not, and fans are thanking Marvel Rivals for lighting a fire under the hero shooter subgenre.
The Overwatch team said a lot yesterday, but the biggest news is that we're getting 10 new characters this year instead of the usual three, five of which are coming next week, Jetpack Cat included. Blizzard's also kickstarting an annual storyline that'll unfold in animated shorts, in-game comics, and more. That's alongside sweeping changes to the UI, progression, perks, and practically every other corner of the game.
"Marvel Rivals literally saved this game," one player writes in response to Overwatch's first full-fledged animated short in a while. "This is why competition is good folks. Glad to see them seriously lock in. Might actually bring me back for the first time in years."
"I am gonna get flailed for saying this but Marvel Rivals is the best thing to happen to Overwatch," another says.
Twitch streamer Christopher 'Jay3' Pavloff tweets that the best part of Overwatch stepping up in a big way "is that Marvel Rivals will see all of the changes and then want to improve themselves," and then "you have a back and forth battle of improvements and updates which will benefit the players of both games." We can thank Jeff (Kaplan and the Land Shark) for that.
Overwatch game director Aaron Keller welcomed the competition months ago, but also claimed what we're seeing added to the hero shooter is not "a response to Marvel Rivals" since last year's equally major changes had been in production before the game had any lasting opponent.
Keller had also teased this year's huge overhaul as early as September, 2025, when he envisioned "a future where we become less conservative and create high-impact, high-octane moments that hopefully blow your minds," while promising that 2026 would kick off with a bang.
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