Overwatch 2 returns Competitive Stadium back to its original seven-round format starting on October 30. This change is being made in response to negative fan feedback on the changes Overwatch 2 implemented with the start of the 19th season.
Stadium is the newest permanent game mode Overwatch 2 with special abilities, items and gadgets that can be selected between rounds to customize the lineups of selected heroes in wild and exciting ways. Originally, Stadium was a best-of-seven game mode Overwatch 2 he changed it to best-of-five starting in season 19 to keep the games from becoming a stalemate.
Overwatch 2 Competitive Stadium returns to Best of Seven
Now, Overwatch 2 announced its intention to reverse this change. In a Twitter thread Overwatch 2 game director Aaron Keller confirmed that Competitive Stadium will return for seven rounds starting on October 30. Players can expect a short hour-long Ranked Stadium outage while the change is implemented, but will otherwise be able to play the game as usual.
According to Keller, this reversion is being made because the best-of-five format “wasn't quite right”. These two additional potential rounds provide more room for adaptive strategies and big comebacks to make games less one-sided, even if they are longer because of it. Fans can expect a deeper dive into the reasoning behind this decision in the next Director's Take blog in early November.
While some players preferred the five-round format, it seems most fans are happy to see the change being made, especially with Overwatch 2 Stadium gadgets are now in the mix. Fortunately, those looking to play best-of-five in the stadium can still do so in Unranked Quick Play, which also includes backfill and cross-play between all platforms.
There may be some other minor fixes and changes before that, but the next big update will be for Overwatch 2 it is expected to be a mid season 19 patch around November 11th. Not much is known about this update yet, though it will be the debut of Cyber Fuel Junkrat, the first instance of the second Mythic hero skin to drop in the same season. Plus a test weekend for heroes Overwatch 2 Hero 45 is coming at some point around this time, meaning players will likely finally see the last new character of 2025 within the next few weeks. No heroes or maps have been revealed for Stadium yet, but Overwatch 2 may yet surprise fans – and if not, Season 20 on December 9 is sure to add some more stuff to the game mode.
- Released
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August 10, 2023
- ESRB
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T For Teens // Blood, mild language, tobacco use, violence
