Overwatch 2 reveals plans for Seasons 17, 18, and beyond: Perks, Flashpoint reworks, map voting

Overwatch 2 just revealed its latest director's take. This time around, associate game director Alec Dawson went into the maintenance and growth of the game.

Overwatch 2 has seen some major updates as of late. Examples include the new Perks system, the arrival of hero bans in ranked queue, and the launch of Stadium. Although this new content is spicing things up, the team wants to ensure players that they're still focused on Overwatch 2's "core game modes, existing heroes, or areas of the game that need tuning or reworks."

The June 6 director's take also goes into how each season is based around two core ideas, namely giving players reasons to return and reasons to stick around. Major additions like new heroes, gameplay systems, or modes draw players back in. Meanwhile, ongoing improvements to ranked mode, progression, and hero balance improve the experience for folks who duke it out in Overwatch 2 on a daily basis.

According to Dawson, the start of each Overwatch 2 year, like with Season 9 and Season 15, should always feel major. The team is currently planning out what this would mean for 2026 as well.

As for the remainder of this year, Season 17 will introduce map voting and Aatlis as a new Flashpoint map. The latter half Season 17 will then have Suravasa and New Junk City reworks.

Season 18, meanwhile, will be the game's mid-year update and be about significant changes to core systems. The Perks system will have every hero receiving something new to experiment with, and each Perk will be better aligned with the team's vision for the system.

That's all for now. Stick around on esports.gg for more Overwatch 2 news and updates.