Overwatch 2 is testing the return of 6v6 next season, and Blizzard will be 'watching the results closely'
5v5 format tests also on the way.
Following Blizzard's announcement earlier this year it was considering bringing 6v6 matches to Overwatch 2, having ditched them when it transitioned from Overwatch 1 to its sequel, the studio has now made their reintroduction official: 6v6 will come to Overwatch 2 in the form of two test modes next season, and Blizzard says it'll be 'watching the results closely'
When Blizzard revealed it was mulling over 6v6's return back in July, it explained the original mode could have "really high, highs, but reaaaally low, lows" in Overwatch 1, and that 5v5 was ultimately selected for Overwatch 2 in a bid to "raise that floor, even though it was at the expense of some of some of those high moments." However, the studio acknowledged the changes had come "at the cost of match variety and player freedom" and so it was looking at how 6v6 could potentially be reintroduced.
And now, four months on from that announcement, Blizzard has confirmed 6v6's imminent return. In new post on the Overwatch website, game director Aaron Keller said the studio will be introducing "two different 6v6 tests" as part of Overwatch 2's upcoming Season 14. The first of these is set to launch a week into the season and will be a variation of Open Queue - requiring each team to have at least one of each role but no more than three, with players able to switch roles on the fly during a match as long as the limit isn't broken.
Blizzard's second 6v6 test will arrive as part of Season 14's mid-season refresh, offering the classic 2-2-2 team composition while incorporating some of Overwatch 2's "new principles", such as less crowd control and hero rework. Both test modes will feature rebalancing specific to 6v6 - such as a reduction in the power and survivability of tanks - but they'll still have their own card in Unranked alongside other modes. Keller says the goal of Season 14's 6v6 format tests is to understand if it "can make the core game even stronger", adding that it'll be "watching the reception and results of these tests closely."
"In the world where a surge of players join this mode and continuously play it, then we have the signal we need to do more with it," Keller continued. "I think what that 'more' is depends on the level of excitement. Is there a world where both 5v5 and 6v6 exist permanently in Overwatch 2? If you had asked me a few months ago, I would have said no. As we've discussed Overwatch 2's future... we know our players can want more than one experience, and it would be something we'd need to consider moving forward."
Notably, Blizzard isn't stopping at experimenting with a potential 6v6 mode. It also plans to test variants of Overwatch 2's existing 5v5 mode as part of Season 13, examining the "flexibility within this format". There's a Quick Play: Hacked variant called Limit 2 coming soon, which caps each role per team at two, and there's a mid-season mode called Kingmaker that'll feature Limit 2's role cap while giving a bonus to the player not sharing a role.
Blizzard says it'll have more information on all the above "closer to their launches".