Summary
- Overwatch 2 will continue to offer 6v6 Open Queue in Season 16, following Season 15's success.
- Competitive 6v6 Open Queue in Season 15 was popular with a 3:1 ratio of 5v5 to 6v6 matches.
- Overwatch 2's associate game director hopes data from Season 16 will reveal how 5v5 and 6v6 can coexist in the future.
Overwatch 2 has officially announced that the 6v6 Open Queue game modes from Season 15 will remain available throughout Season 16 in both Quick Play and Competitive. Though there is no official confirmation by Blizzard yet, it seems like 5v5 and 6v6 will likely continue to coexist in the future of Overwatch 2.
One of the biggest changes between Overwatch 1 and 2 was the transition from six to five players on each team. This controversial decision eventually led Overwatch 2 to begin experimenting with 6v6 games again, beginning with a series of tests that took place in Season 14. These limited-time game modes were so popular that Overwatch 2 added a 6v6 Open Queue game mode to both Quick Play and Competitive for the entirety of Season 15, featuring a two-tank limitation.
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Season 15 is coming to an end soon, but it seems like 6v6 is sticking around. In a recent Director’s Take blog, Overwatch 2’s new associate game director Alec Dawson confirmed that 6v6 Open Queue would continue to be available throughout all of Season 16 in both Quick Play and Competitive, featuring the same two-tank limitation as Season 15 did. This means fans will be able to enjoy this game mode alongside the typical 5v5 Role Queue for at least two more months.
6v6 Open Queue in Overwatch 2 Season 16
According to Dawson, Competitive 6v6 Open Queue was the third most popular mode in Overwatch 2 during Season 15 until the Totally Normalwatch April Fools’ Day mode dethroned it to fourth place. He said there was an approximate 3:1 ratio of 5v5 to 6v6 in Competitive, with a steady population preferring the larger team sizes over their smaller counterparts. He was also happy to find that queue times have remained healthy, but was surprised to discover that, even without Role Queue, most 6v6 teams followed the classic 2-2-2 role breakdown.
Dawson hopes that the continued data collected from this game mode in Season 16 will give Overwatch 2 a better idea of how 5v5 and 6v6 can coexist in the future. While not hard confirmation, it seems inevitable that a permanent 6v6 game mode will eventually be announced within a few seasons.
Season 16 of Overwatch 2 officially begins on April 22, where it will launch alongside Freja, the frosty new damage hero. The mobile, high-skill bounty hunter is getting some nice buffs in the update, alongside a handful of changes to several over- and under-performing Perks, ensuring matches will be full of all sorts of new surprises and strategies.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 77 /100 Critics Rec: 65%
WHERE TO PLAY
OVERWATCH®, A FUTURE WORTH FIGHTING FOR! Overwatch® is an always-on and ever-evolving free-to-play, team-based action game set in an optimistic future.
Overwatch® is an always-on and ever-evolving free-to-play, team-based hero shooter game set in an optimistic future, where every match is the ultimate 5v5 or 6v6 battlefield brawl featuring new heroes and maps, different ways to play, and unique cosmetics! Lead the charge, ambush your enemies, or aid your allies as one of Overwatch’s 40+ distinct heroes. Team up with friends, take them into battle across 25+ futuristic maps inspired by real-world locations, and master multiple unique game modes.
Reign of Talon - Season 1: Conquest
The Next Big Story Begins
The world shifts as 2026 begins a year-long narrative arc where Overwatch and Talon face off in the fight for the future, joined by five new Heroes at once. Step into the story and shape what comes next!
After ten years, Season 1 opens the first chapter of Overwatch's next big story, where your choices will put you right into the fight for the future!
For the first time, five new Heroes hit the roster together, bringing new playstyles, new dynamics, and new voices into the fray all at once. Jet Pack Cat, Anran, Domina, Emre, and Mizuki arrive just in time for Reign of Talon: Conquest, launching a year-long narrative where conflict takes center stage and you contribute to how it unfolds.
Choose where you stand as Overwatch and Talon collide in a faction-driven event with outcomes that will leave visible marks on the world and your legacy. Along the way, Competitive gets a refresh and Core gameplay evolves, changing how things feel across the board.
This season sets a fresh tone for how the Overwatch story is told and how you play it.
- Engine
- Proprietary Engine
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer, Online Co-Op
- Cross-Platform Play
- Full
- Cross Save
- yes
- Franchise
- Overwatch
- Steam Deck Compatibility
- Playable
- Early Access Release
- October 4, 2022
- PC Release Date
- August 10, 2023
- Xbox Series X|S Release Date
- August 10, 2023
- PS5 Release Date
- August 10, 2023
- Nintendo Switch Release Date
- August 10, 2023
- Genre(s)
- Shooter, FPS, MOBA, Multiplayer
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch, PC
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
- How Long To Beat
- 35 hours
- X|S Optimized
- Yes
