As the second season of Blizzard’s shooter Overwatch 2 passes the halfway mark, fans are turning their attention to the upcoming third season, and what may be in store.
New seasons mean new content for fans in the form of new heroes, new maps, new game modes and much more – so what do we know so far about the next big update for the game?
NOW BUY: Get the Overwatch 2 Watchpoint Pack on Xbox from Green Man Gaming
Here’s what we know so far about Overwatch 2 Season 3, including its predicted release date.
Overwatch 2 Season 3 predicted release date
Previously, Blizzard has said that each season in Overwatch 2 should last around nine weeks. Therefore – given Season 2 began on December 6 – we predict Season 3 should begin on Tuesday, February 7 2023.
Assuming everything goes to Blizzard’s schedule, that would also put the end date of Season 3 nine weeks later at Tuesday, April 11 2023.
We’ll update when we get an official confirmation – or should these dates move due to unforeseen circumstances.
Overwatch 2 Season 3 – will there be a new hero or new map?
Blizzard hasn’t revealed much in the way of detail on Season 3 just yet. Before launch, the developer confirmed that it would release maps and heroes on an alternating seasonal schedule after the first couple of seasons.
The exception for this was the first couple of seasons, with each of them getting both a new hero AND a new map. However, we’ve now crossed that threshold, and so the original schedule now applies.
Therefore, Season 3 of Overwatch 2 will likely not have a new hero as it’s an odd numbered season. It should, however, have a new map. Just as with the dates, we’ll update this page when we have official confirmation.
Overwatch 2 Season 3 – what else is included?
In a blog post over the weekend, director Aaron Keller posted a blog outlining some of the outstanding issues in the game that the team are hoping to address in the new season in more general changes.
One of these is a shake-up to the game’s Ranked system, as Keller describes the current one as suffering from “poor comprehension” – some of these changes will also come in Season 4.
On top of that, Keller mentioned that players don’t feel the game is currently “rewarding enough” to play, and they’ll be addressing that with some changes in Season 3 that the team say they’ll detail soon.
Elsewhere the roadmap for 2023 mentions new skins, new battle passes, new modes and – at some point this year – the long promised PvE mode. That’s not to say each season is guaranteed to have all these in.
We’re expecting more information on what else will be in Season 3 closer to launch date, and we’ll update this page when we know more.
Overwatch 2 is available now on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch and PC.
