Summary

  • Overwatch 2 will continue to offer 6v6 Open Queue in Season 16, following Season 15's success.
  • Competitive 6v6 Open Queue in Season 15 was popular with a 3:1 ratio of 5v5 to 6v6 matches.
  • Overwatch 2's associate game director hopes data from Season 16 will reveal how 5v5 and 6v6 can coexist in the future.

Overwatch 2 has officially announced that the 6v6 Open Queue game modes from Season 15 will remain available throughout Season 16 in both Quick Play and Competitive. Though there is no official confirmation by Blizzard yet, it seems like 5v5 and 6v6 will likely continue to coexist in the future of Overwatch 2.

One of the biggest changes between Overwatch 1 and 2 was the transition from six to five players on each team. This controversial decision eventually led Overwatch 2 to begin experimenting with 6v6 games again, beginning with a series of tests that took place in Season 14. These limited-time game modes were so popular that Overwatch 2 added a 6v6 Open Queue game mode to both Quick Play and Competitive for the entirety of Season 15, featuring a two-tank limitation.

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Season 15 is coming to an end soon, but it seems like 6v6 is sticking around. In a recent Director’s Take blog, Overwatch 2’s new associate game director Alec Dawson confirmed that 6v6 Open Queue would continue to be available throughout all of Season 16 in both Quick Play and Competitive, featuring the same two-tank limitation as Season 15 did. This means fans will be able to enjoy this game mode alongside the typical 5v5 Role Queue for at least two more months.

6v6 Open Queue in Overwatch 2 Season 16

According to Dawson, Competitive 6v6 Open Queue was the third most popular mode in Overwatch 2 during Season 15 until the Totally Normalwatch April Fools’ Day mode dethroned it to fourth place. He said there was an approximate 3:1 ratio of 5v5 to 6v6 in Competitive, with a steady population preferring the larger team sizes over their smaller counterparts. He was also happy to find that queue times have remained healthy, but was surprised to discover that, even without Role Queue, most 6v6 teams followed the classic 2-2-2 role breakdown.

Dawson hopes that the continued data collected from this game mode in Season 16 will give Overwatch 2 a better idea of how 5v5 and 6v6 can coexist in the future. While not hard confirmation, it seems inevitable that a permanent 6v6 game mode will eventually be announced within a few seasons.

Season 16 of Overwatch 2 officially begins on April 22, where it will launch alongside Freja, the frosty new damage hero. The mobile, high-skill bounty hunter is getting some nice buffs in the update, alongside a handful of changes to several over- and under-performing Perks, ensuring matches will be full of all sorts of new surprises and strategies.

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Overwatch 2 Tag Page Cover Art
6 /10

Overwatch 2
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Shooter
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Systems
super greyscale 8-bit logo PC-1 PlayStation-1 Xbox-1
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Top Critic Avg: 77 /100 Critics Rec: 65%
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Released
August 10, 2023
ESRB
T For Teen // Blood, Mild Language, Use of Tobacco, Violence
Developer(s)
Blizzard
Publisher(s)
Blizzard
Engine
Proprietary Engine
Multiplayer
Online Multiplayer
Cross-Platform Play
PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One & Xbox Series X|S
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WHERE TO PLAY

SUBSCRIPTION
DIGITAL
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Overwatch 2 is an always-on and ever-evolving free-to-play, team-based action game set in an optimistic future, where every match is the ultimate 5v5 battlefield brawl. Power up your railgun and disrupt the battlefield as Sojourn, or yield your axe and command attention as Junker Queen. Battle to take control of a robot and move it toward the enemy base in the new Push Mode. Bring the fight to new destinations across the globe in iconic locations like New York, Rome, Monte Carlo and Rio. Daily challenges and frequent updates mean there is always something new to play.

Cross Save
yes
Franchise
Overwatch
Steam Deck Compatibility
n/a
Early Access Release
October 4, 2022
PC Release Date
August 10, 2023
Xbox Series X|S Release Date
August 10, 2023
PS5 Release Date
August 10, 2023
Nintendo Switch Release Date
August 10, 2023
Genre(s)
Shooter
Platform(s)
PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Switch, Xbox One S, Xbox One X, PC
OpenCritic Rating
Strong
How Long To Beat
35 hours
X|S Optimized
n/a