Overwatch 2's Round-Based Stadium Mode Looks To Reinvent Blizzard's Shooter In A Big Way

Blizzard has big plans for Overwatch 2 in 2025, and one of them is a new mode that is unlike anything the game has seen before. Called Stadium, the mode is a competitive, round-based, third-person game mode where players upgrade their chosen hero over the course of a match using currency.

Revealed as part of Blizzard's recent Overwatch 2 Spotlight livestream, Stadium is intended to join Quick Play and Competitive as a new, third pillar of Overwatch 2 when it arrives as part of Season 16 later this year. The mode will only be playable as a ranked game mode with role queue, and matches will play out in a "best of seven" format. Overwatch's normal Control, Push, and Clash game modes will be featured in Stadium, and players will still be using Overwatch's colorful cast of heroes. That, however, is where the Overwatch 2 players may be accustomed to ends and in many ways a whole new game emerges.

Stadium will be the first game mode in Overwatch 2 to support a third-person camera, something recent hero shooter Marvel Rivals has used to great success. Players will, however, have the option to still play in first-person should they choose. The mode will feature a pre-round "buy" phase, where players can spend currency earned each round to purchase ability upgrades and stat-boosting items, MOBA-style. Items can do everything from granting players simple stat boosts like more health and faster movement speed all the way to granting attacks life-stealing or reducing the duration of negative effects.

Hero abilities can be augmented with currency too, granting them additional effects that can dramatically change the way a hero is played. Players will earn currency by killing enemies and earning assists, as well as a percentage of the damage and healing they do over the course of a round. There will also be a bounty system, where those who take out well-performing players on the enemy team will be rewarded with a currency payout.

At launch, only 14 heroes in Overwatch 2's roster will be playable in Stadium mode "to ensure balance and competitive play," according to Blizzard. More heroes will be added to the mode over time.

Based on what Blizzard has described and shown, it sounds as if Overwatch 2 is taking the pre-round buying phases of games like Counter-Strike and Valorant, mashing it together with the third-person gameplay and MOBA-inspired item shop seen in Valve's still-in-the-works Deadlock, and then combining it all with Overwatch to form a new game-within-a-game.

Whether or not the new mode catches on remains to be seen, but Stadium isn't the only major addition coming to Overwatch 2 in 2025. Blizzard additionally revealed loot boxes (originally removed when Overwatch went free-to-play and transitioned into Overwatch 2) will be returning as part of Season 15 on February 18. The season will also introduce a new gameplay system in the form of Perks, where players will be able to choose between ability-altering bonuses over the course of a match. New heroes are coming too, with Blizzard giving fans a first look at the crossbow-wielding Freya and the monk-like Aqua.