For the first time, Overwatch is getting a story-based event with an exclusive skin as a reward. They are calling this event a Conquest Meta Event. Plus, there will be new heroes available at the start of the season!
Season 1 includes Conquest, a five-week meta event where players choose to fight for either Overwatch or Talon. Each week, you will complete missions tied to the lore, with rewards going to the faction with the most successful missions. You can switch your allegiance once completing your current week’s faction pass, making every choice matter as you seek to claim the following rewards:
- 75 Base Lootboxes
- 12 Epic Lootboxes
- 7 Legendary Lootboxes
- 9 new Voice Lines
- 31 2D Cosmetics
- 2 Weapon Charms
- 1 of 2 faction-themed Legendary Echo skins
- Exclusive new Rare, Epic and Legendary titles (and a secret hidden one!)
CompetitiveUpdate
Season 1 marks the start of a new competitive year! This means a competitive reset as well as the new Crimson Wolf competitive weapon, to honor Talon’s new leader. We’re also giving those who reach Diamond or higher a new Doomfist competitive skin.
Competitive titles will now have rarity applied, and Top 500 players will earn dynamic titles for their finishes. Titles from Season 20 and Season 1 will be granted when the title update goes live in Season 2.*
*In the 2026 Overwatch Spotlight video, we said these are live at Season 1 launch but wanted to give our team a bit more time to polish this feature.
UI/UX REFRESH
A large UI/UX Refresh is coming in Season 1! After 10 years, the menus felt a bit dated, and our hope is that this helps restore some personality and hero-centric vibes while in-game.
This update includes the lobby, play cards, navigation, hero gallery, and social panel. A Notification Hub will consolidate important updates. Season 1 will feature a new 3D lobby with the selected hero displayed, and Season 4 will expand this to include all group members.
We hope you all love the new look and ease of navigation (biggest challenge is getting used to the PLAY button at the top of the screen). And be sure to share your thoughts and feedback as we’re planning even more updates and improvements in the future.
SYSTEMS UPDATES
Alongside gameplay and navigation, new features have always been some of the most impactful updates we’ve made to Overwatch. This year, we want to dial in the sense of joy and positivity that is at the center of the Overwatch Universe.
When Season 1 launches, we’re unveiling a Praise feature, allowing players to use Hero VO lines to provide positive feedback. The team has actually been recording these lines for all of our Heroes for over 10 years, but we’ve never found a way to utilize them that has felt quite right to us. And we're really excited about what this subtle addition can mean for gameplay interactions.
Another new feature is additional sound/music control settings while in lobby! Now when you're playing Overwatch on your second monitor, you will be able to listen in on work meetings without having to turn your OW audio down. Not that anyone on our team has ever done that.
Later this year, we are reviving an often-requested feature: Post‑Match Accolades. Unlike the former cards, this new system will use full 3D Hero models. New types of recognition will highlight key moments, including multi‑endorsements and Heroic Endorsements.
And in Season 2, we are coming to the Nintendo Switch™ 2!
Over the rest of the year, expect upgrades to map voting, hero bans, Drives, and more!
Stadium
The Reign of Talon transcends all of Overwatch, including Stadium, so of course we have to introduce Vendetta herself to the lineup! We’re also changing up the pace of Competitive Stadium: Power rounds now run 1/2/4/6, delivering a faster, best-of-seven style flow while still letting builds evolve across a full match.
We’ll be bringing the UI refresh to the Armory, seeing all 70 icons fully redone to better match the fantasy of each item. For example, the Aerial Distresser will now look like a flying drone, while Amari’s Antidote is clearly an injector. This should make it much easier to find exactly what you are looking for at a glance.
Possibly the biggest change we’ve introduced to Stadium since launching last year is the new Hero Builder. The team is designing the Hero Builder as a way to give you greater agency and ease in crafting the best possible builds to match your playstyle. It’ll provide recommended builds based on player data worldwide, letting you see what other players are using.
This will be presented in two forms:
- The first is on round one: you will now see three options for popular builds on your chosen Hero. These starter packs combine a power with three items in a single click, making things much more streamlined.
- And the second on rounds 2-7: you’ll see an option to continue your current build but will also see recommendations to help you counter the enemy team!
Roadmap
