Overwatch has some bad news for fans of the Clash Game mode

Overwatch officially removing Clash from the Quick Play map rotation starting with Reign of Talon Season 1. After a soft reboot Overwatch On February 10, the Clash game mode will only be playable in Custom Games.

During the Overwatch Spotlight, Blizzard shocked its fan base with massive plans for the heroic shooter in 2026. Now renamed back to simply Overwatchplayers will see 10 new heroes over the course of the year, five of which will arrive in the first season, along with an updated user interface, sub-role passives, and year-long storylines, starting with the enemy takeover of Vendetta in Reign of Talon.

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Clash Leaving Quick Play in Overwatch Reign of Talon Season 1

However, to make room for all the new stuff, at least one thing is being removed. OW content creator Aspen was invited to the Overwatch Spotlight event where she asked Overwatch associate director Alec Dawson if any new game modes are planned in the near future. Dawson not only confirmed Overwatch is “sticking with what currently works” and “improving what we have,” but the Clash will be removed from Quick Play next season. Starting February 10th, fans will only be able to play Clash in their own games and will no longer see them in any queues.

Clash is a newer game mode that was introduced incl Overwatch 2 Season 12. The mode consists of five objectives where teams must push deeper into enemy territory to gain control points, with the first to reach five points in the game. Unfortunately, Clash matches tend to be fast and one-sided despite Blizzard's efforts at balancing. This led to the removal of Clash from Overwatch 2 Competitive Play in Season 15, although it remained in Unranked modes and was added to Competitive and Quick Play Stadium when they were released in Season 16 and 18 respectively.

Who is that character?

Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.

Who is that character?

Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.

Easy (7.5s) Medium (5.0s) Hard (2.5s) Permadeath (2.5s)

While Dawson said that Clash is being removed from Quick Play in Reign of Talon, his comments about it only being playable in custom games suggest that a shortened version of that game mode will also be pulled from Stadium. Players will have to wait for the update to arrive on February 10th to be sure.

The only other game mode to be fully ported to Custom Games in the past was Assault, also known as 2CP, with the launch of Overwatch 2 in 2022. Ironically, both existing Clash maps from Overwatch 2 – Hanaoka and Throne of Anubis – were reworked versions of the Hanamura and Temple of Anubis Assault maps, marking the second time these battlegrounds have been banished from Core. Overwatch for an indefinite period.

Overwatch doesn't like the stadium much this year either

While the Stadium game mode is still going strong Overwatchhe's not getting nearly as much attention this year. In the months following the game mode's launch in 2025, Stadium received two to four heroes each season, plus new maps, features, and even a Payload Race game mode. However, the only stadium content seen on Overwatch The plan for 2026 is Vendetta, Hero Builder and UI improvements in Season 1 and Ramattra in Season 2.

Meanwhile, Core Overwatch is getting a lot of features, including the Conquest event in Season 1 and the Japan Night map in Season 3. Really, a massive influx of new heroes Overwatch Reign of Talon Season 1 plus one more promised every other season actually means that Stadium is behind on the hero list for the first time since launch. It is clear that the focus has shifted away from the stadium in favor of Corea Overwatch for now probably due to the higher number of players. Even so, the Stadium has not been completely forgotten, so let's hope Overwatch will continue to support it in the future.