The first anniversary of Overwatch 2 is here! Millions of players have already answered the call, and we’re celebrating with lots of fun rewards.  For three weeks, you’ll be able to play returning modes from past events throughout the year in the Arcade, along with the chance to earn Overwatch Credits, which can be spent on fan-favorite skins in a limited-time Anniversary Shop. Keep reading to find out more about everything coming in the Overwatch 2 Anniversary event!

Week 1 – Winter Wonderland and Battle for Olympus

During the first week of the event, stay frosty with the return of Winter Wonderland event game modes. Join in the ultimate snowball fight with Mei’s Snowball Offense, both in Elimination and Deathmatch versions. Try your hand at the epic 1v5 Yeti Hunt, or the challenging Flash Freeze elimination game modes.

If you prefer more godly challenges, Battle for Olympus also returns in Week 1 with both Free-For-All Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch game modes. Battle for Ol...

Hello heroes! We’re back with news from the Defense Matrix team, covering our latest efforts to bring a positive and fair gameplay experience to Overwatch 2. We've been taking big steps to help discourage and remove disruptive behavior and cheating and wanted to share more details with you.

Hold on, what is Defense Matrix?  We’re glad you asked! Defense Matrix is the name for our collection of efforts to quell the cheating, disruptive chat, and griefing issues that negatively impact many multiplayer video games, including Overwatch 2.  These efforts are the product of a dedicated task force of developers, researchers, and community experts, all working to improve our existing systems while finding new ways to counter disruptive behaviors.

Guided by two core principles, we strive to keep Overwatch 2 a positive player experience. The first is Fair is Fun, meaning all players should have the same level playing field when it comes to the game. The second is to foster a Safe and Inclu...

Hello, everyone! We've seen a lot of conversations around Competitive in Overwatch lately, and I'd like to take most of this week's Director's Take to address it. But first, let’s have a quick hero update.

We made several changes to Illari when she was enabled for Ranked. Most notably, the healing for her pylon was reduced, and her Ultimate projectile size was decreased while it no longer pierces barriers. The Pylon nerfs effectively equalized the healing between her pylon and Solar Rifle. Pre-nerf, the Healing Pylon accounted for about 62% of her healing; now that number is 55%. This change also brings her more in line with other damage-forward supports, whereas before, she was outputting healing numbers close to Lifeweaver and Mercy. We're happy with those latest changes and the additional changes made to Captive Sun. We’ll continue to monitor her damage output and see if anything needs addressing next season. Additionally, we're looking at Roadhog's underperformance and targeti...

Do you have the fastest kill rate as you zip past the front lines? Are you an expert at charging your enemies? Do you master the skies with your Guardian Angel skills? Prove and enhance your skills as you take on the new Hero Mastery mode in Overwatch 2!

Hero Mastery is an all-new single-player mode, permanently available for everyone. The objective for Hero Mastery is to race through an action-packed course filled with training bots, obstacles, and jump pads as you race for the finish line. It’ll test your skills and limitations across training courses for Mercy, Reinhardt, and Tracer, with Sojourn and Winston coming later this Season.  Your score is based on how fast you reach the finish line, how many enemy bots you defeat, and how many Emblems you collect throughout the course.

Watch Out for New Training Bots

With new courses come new Training bots! While most of the enemy training bots will look familiar, there will also be new challenging ones to shoot, dodge, and block. T...