Exactly three months ago, Overwatch 2 Game Director Aaron Keller began the discussion between the development team and the community on how to bring back the 6v6 mode that was initially removed in the sequel. A few hours ago, Keller provided an update and shared concrete details on when and how 6v6 tests will happen.
There will be two tests in Season 14. The first one will begin a week after the season’s debut and will feature a variation of Open Queue. Each team of 6 must have at least one hero of each role and no more than three. According to Keller, this opens up a lot of different team compositions that players haven’t seen before in Overwatch 2. Roles can be switched during a match, as long as it doesn’t break the ‘min 1, max 3’ limit. This test also aims to give Blizzard a look at how Overwatch 2’s heroes, abilities, and updates work in a 6v6 environment.
The second 6v6 test will take place later, during Season 14’s mid-cycle, and it will feature the classic 2-2-2 matchup with some twists (such as less CC and hero rework). Both 6v6 Tests will have their own map in Unranked alongside other modes and will not replace other types of game modes such as Seasonal Events or Quick Play: Hacked. Blizzard will also introduce several balance changes that will only apply to these two test modes: for example, tank power and survivability will be reduced in these 6v6 formats, and the studio will evaluate whether they need many of the passive abilities that were added in Overwatch 2.
Meanwhile, in Season 13, Blizzard will also experiment with two 5v5 formats. In the first one, called Limit 2, the maximum number of each role will be limited to two. This includes Tanks, but they will be tuned to Open Queue balance, so they will have less health. The second format is being dubbed Kingmaker; here, the maximum number of each role is still limited to two – however, the player alone in their role gets some kind of bonus.
Towards the end of his article, Keller also hints Blizzard now sees a world where 5v5 and 6v6 are both available on a permanent basis in Overwatch 2. Of course, it will depend on how these tests are received. Whether that will be enough to inject some much-needed lifeblood into the game remains to be seen.
