Blizzard Entertainment is trying to win back the favor of players after many defected to Marvel Rivals.

Blizzard has released an updated content roadmap for Overwatch 2’s new Stadium mode. According to the studio, it is currently by far the most played game mode, eclipsing Competitive and Quick Play. Stadium saw 2.3 million matches played over 7.8 million hours during the mode’s launch week, which appears to be more than double the number of matches played in the previous most popular mode during its launch week (when OW Classic made its way into Overwatch 2). A total of 900 billion in stadium money was earned during the mode’s first week, and 206 million items were selected by players during rounds. Ironically, the most successful but least popular hero was Lucio.

Originally designed as an eight-team tournament, the Stadium was meant to be as diverse as possible. Each round, players could choose from random upgrades to use in PvP team deathmatch or PvE against the AI, and if they lost a round, they lost health. However, it was difficult to develop a coherent strategy or build against opponents when the choices were random. Blizzard still wants game-to-game variety, but it’s no longer the top priority. The goal has shifted to providing balanced and competitive gameplay while ensuring that the audience can create good builds by making strategic decisions based on everyone’s performance and hero combinations in the match.

Stadium mode builds and hero balances will be adjusted in an upcoming mid-season balance update after Blizzard has gathered all the data and feedback. In terms of new content, the newest Hero (Freya) will be the next Hero available in the mode when the mid-season patch goes live, and Blizzard plans to add new Heroes to the Stadium on a regular basis throughout the year. In Season 17, coming in June, Sigma, Junkrat, and Zenyatta will be available, along with new maps (Esperanca, Samoa), custom games, the ability to save and share builds, and cross-play. However, this is still a competitive mode, so PC and console players will be in separate groups. However, the developers are looking into creating a non-ranked mode that could bring everyone together without hurting the competitive scene.

Season 18 will be released in August. Winston, Sojourn, and Brigitte are coming to the stadium. There will be two new maps (New Route 66, London), a new game mode (Payload Race), new All-Star rewards, and a Stadium Trials feature. Starting in Season 19, Overwatch 2 will get a new map (New China), and each season will also bring new heroes, draft mode, new consumables, and item upgrades. With the Payload Race, Blizzard is also introducing a new mechanic: In Quests, players will randomly select a quest and receive rewards for completing it.

This is Blizzard’s attempt to keep up with NetEase Games’ successful game, but it remains to be seen if this will bring players back from Marvel Rivals.

Source: WCCFTech