Overwatch
2016 video game
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| April 2025 | Freja was fully added to the Overwatch roster at the start of Season 16, following her initial trial period in Season 15. |
| April 2025 | A new game mode called Stadium is expected to launch in Season 16, featuring a 5v5 best-of-seven match with character upgrades and optional third-person camera view. |
| April 2025 | A hero ban system was implemented in the game's core competitive mode during Season 16. |
| March 19 2025 | Release of 'The Hunt Begins' animation featuring Freja |
| 2025 | Begins trial period as a new character during Season 15 of Overwatch |
| February 2025 | Release of Season 15, which introduced perks into core gameplay modes and brought back loot boxes, improving user reception on Steam from 'Overwhelming negative' to 'Mixed'. |
| February 2025 | Loot boxes were reintroduced to the game, earnable through gameplay and not directly purchasable, with guaranteed item rarity tiers. |
| February 2025 | A 6v6 competitive mode was introduced, and a new gameplay feature called 'perks' was added, allowing players to modify hero abilities during matches. |
| February 2025 | A 6v6 competitive mode was introduced in Season 15, and a new gameplay feature called 'perks' was added to modify existing character abilities. |
| February 2025 | Blizzard reintroduced loot boxes with fixed reward odds and introduced a new perk system allowing players to select skill modifications for characters during matches. |
| February 2025 | Reintroduced loot boxes in Season 15, earnable through gameplay with guaranteed rare and desirable item drops, without direct purchasability. |
| February 2025 | Introduced gameplay perks in Season 15, allowing players to modify hero abilities during matches and earn experience points to select strategic alterations. |
| December 2024 | Launch of Marvel Rivals, a competing team-based hero shooter, which caused a nearly 40% drop in Overwatch 2's concurrent player count on Steam. |
| December 2024 | Blizzard began experimenting with six-on-six team combat through limited period tests and special 'Overwatch Classic' events during Season 14. |
| December 2024 | Hazard was fully added to the Overwatch roster at the start of Season 14. |
| November 2024 | Hazard was made available for public testing by all players as the 42nd hero in Overwatch. |
| November 2024 | Hazard became publicly available for testing by all Overwatch players. |
| August 2024 | A new game mode called Clash was introduced in Season 12, featuring five sequential control points with progressive capture mechanics. |
| August 21 2024 | Release of 'Control' animation featuring Juno |
| July 2024 | Overwatch and Overwatch 2 collectively reached over 100 million players. |
| July 2024 | Juno was revealed midway through Overwatch 2 season 11 with an open weekend playtest. |
| April 2024 | Reversed the battle pass hero unlock policy in Season 10, making new heroes free for all players and requiring tutorial missions to fully unlock previously unavailable heroes. |
| April 2024 | Blizzard officially added Venture as a playable hero to Overwatch 2 during Season 10. |
| April 2024 | Hammond's abilities were expanded in Season 10 of Overwatch 2, allowing him to retract along his Grappling Claw and distribute Adaptive Shields among nearby teammates. |
| April 16 2024 | Release of 'Venture's Adventures' animation |
| March 2024 | Venture was available for an open test period prior to their official game release, introducing the first non-binary character to the Overwatch roster. |
| March 2024 | Blizzard changed their hero acquisition policy, making new heroes available to all players without requiring purchase of a battle pass. |
| February 2024 | A major combat and competitive system overhaul was implemented in Season 9, including increased hero health, passive healing, and a new ranking system where competitive ranking is adjusted after each game. |
| January 2024 | Blizzard changed their hero acquisition approach, making new heroes available to all players during specific seasons instead of requiring battle pass completion or specific challenges. |
| January 23 2024 | Blizzard officially folded the Overwatch League and simultaneously announced a multi-year deal with ESL FACEIT Group and WDG Esports to create the Overwatch Champions Series (OWCS) as a replacement. |
| 2023 | Blizzard dissolved its agreement with NetEase in China, impacting local server access for Chinese players. |
| 2023 | OverActive Media (Toronto Defiant owner) reached an agreement with the Overwatch League, including a sponsorship deal and waiving of outstanding franchise fees. |
| 2023 | Philadelphia Fusion shifted their base to Seoul and rebranded as Seoul Infernal. |
| 2023 | Florida Mayhem won the Overwatch League Grand Finals, defeating Houston Outlaws 4-0 |
| 2023 | Paris Eternal relocated to Las Vegas and rebranded as Vegas Eternal, becoming the first team to switch cities. |
| 2023 | Reversion to original Flashbang ability in season 10 of Overwatch 2, returning to the character's previous gameplay style. |
| December 2023 | Mauga became available as part of the Season 8 season pass in Overwatch 2, marking his official release as a playable character. |
| November 2023 | Blizzard teased Juno at BlizzCon 2023, initially codenamed 'Space Ranger', describing her as a mobile hero focused on vertical movement. |
| November 2023 | Hazard was first teased at the Blizzcon event, introducing the character to the public. |
| November 2023 | Roadhog's character abilities were modified in an Overwatch 2 patch, including changes to his Scrap Gun, Take a Breather healing mechanic, and the addition of a new Pig Pen ability. |
| November 2023 | Mauga was officially introduced during BlizzCon, where he was available for free play testing to evaluate his gameplay mechanics and survivability. |
| November 8 2023 | An OWL spokesperson confirmed Blizzard would transition away from its current model, with a two-thirds majority of OWL franchisees voting to depart from the league. |
| November 3 2023 | Release of Mauga Origin Story animation |
| October 27 2023 | Release of 'Perfect Night' by Le Sserafim animation featuring various characters |
| September 2023 | Hero Mastery courses were introduced to help players learn and improve skills with specific characters by completing maps with the shortest time and highest score. |
| August 2023 | Overwatch 2 introduced Flashpoint, a new game mode with one central capture point and four additional points around the map. |
| August 2023 | Introduced three story-based PvE missions in Season 6, advancing the game's narrative and providing players with objective-based gameplay. |
| August 2023 | Blizzard added three story-based PvE missions in Season 6, advancing the Overwatch narrative and introducing new gameplay elements. |
| August 11 2023 | Release of Illari Origin Story animation |
| August 10 2023 | Illari was introduced as the 38th hero in Overwatch 2, joining the game during Season 6 alongside player-versus-environment missions. |
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This contents of the box above is based on material from the Wikipedia articles Overwatch 2, Overwatch League, Characters of the Overwatch franchise & Overwatch animated media, which are released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.