As part of an Overwatch 2 PVP livestream featuring the development team at Blizzard, comes word that the 6v6 setup of Overwatch as we know it is changing. As per the headline, Overwatch 2 PVP is shifting to two teams of five with locked roles -- two DPS, two Support, and one Tank.

As per the announcement the change revoles around changes coming to Tanks -- which are set to become brawler-focused -- and the new dynamics of the upcoming sequel.

This evolution introduces a major shift in the way that the team approaches all aspects of the game, from map design to the dynamics between roles and how they interact as a team.

At the heart of this change lies the change in mentality surrounding the role of Tank, previously discussed during BlizzConline, towards one more focused on brawler-style gameplay. This shift from focusing on the protection of your team to in-your-face battling is anticipated to have impacts to the flow and pacing of the PvP experience.

The shift to 5v5 will see fundamental changes coming to all roles, with Role Passives. DPS heroes will move faster than others, Support heroes will all come with a health regen passive outside of combat, and Tanks will have reduced knockback and take less Ultimate damage.



It's a pretty seismic change and you can see the difference in the above stream, with a PVP match on the new New York map coming in at the 25-minute mark. The switch also sees heroes getting a makeover both visually and how they play. For instance Mei's Blaster will slow and deal damage but not freeze ala the original. Bastion is apparently being reworked from the ground-up. With re-balancing and adjustments being made to all heroes we can expect to see and hear more about these in the coming months.