Every Feature Confirmed For Overwatch: Classic

A new mode will be arriving in Overwatch 2 on November 12th, one that’ll serve as a nostalgia blast for longtime fans. Overwatch 2‘s new Overwatch: Classic mode will bring back much of what fans miss from simpler times.

Classic modes are becoming a big thing in long-running live service games. Fortnite‘s OG mode was, of course, the trailblazer, but Apex Legends also picked up the torch earlier this month. Apex‘s new Launch Royale mode has given a leg up to this trend’s momentum, and Overwatch 2 is coming for the slam dunk.

Overwatch 2 Reveals All Overwatch: Classic Hero Kits

Overwatch 2 reveals all of the playable heroes in Overwatch: Classic, giving fans a refresher on the old-school kits of their favorite characters.

Everything Confirmed For The New Overwatch: Classic Event

Overwatch: Classic will be an event running from tomorrow, November 12, until December 2, allowing players to see just how far the franchise has come. The event will not be a separate game, but rather an event available through the Events Hub and the Main Menu’s Arcade. Though the event won’t perfectly replicate the original Overwatch, with details like UI and map design remaining in their current incarnations, it will nonetheless host a large suite of changes to recreate that classic experience.

Patch 1.0 Heroes, Abilities, Maps, And Modes

According to the official Overwatch 2 site, the first Overwatch: Classic event (as there may be more in the pipeline, depending on how fans respond) will bring players back to patch 1.0. Portraying the game as it was in May 2016, players will be able to access the original 21 heroes in this event, 20 fewer than the game has now. When used in this event, heroes’ Ultimates will charge faster (as they did in the original Overwatch) and their health pools, damage outputs, and ammunition sizes will revert to how they were prior to Overwatch 2‘s Season 9 update.

Heroes will also revert to their original kit (for instance, Bastion’s kit is almost entirely different, reflecting its prior role as a defensive hero).

Moreover, the first few days of the event will have the No Hero Limits rule—meaning that teams aren’t limited to one of each hero. This will only last for a few days, the number of which is yet to be revealed, and the remainder will see hero limits reinstated. Players will also be limited to the original default skins for each hero.

In addition, this mode will only include certain Overwatch maps, split across four modes (Assault, Escort, Hybrid, and Control). The maps included will appear unchanged from how they’re presented in Overwatch 2. Those that made the cut, of which there are 12, include:

Hanamura
Temple of Anubis
Volskaya Industries
Ilios
Lijiang Tower
Nepal
Dorado
Route 66
Watchpoint: Gibraltar
Hollywood
King’s Row
Numbani

6v6 Teams in Overwatch: Classic

6v6 play has been a hot topic for Overwatch 2 ever since the sequel replaced the original game and instituted a 5v5 format. The debate as to which form of gameplay is better remains split down the middle, as it has been for years. Luckily for fans of classic Overwatch, this nostalgic event will involve 6v6 teams.

A return to a 6v6 format in Overwatch 2 has been on the table for some time, but the game’s official site, where this event is detailed, confirms that this isn’t the format’s swan song. Season 14, which will launch on December 10, will see 6v6 tests come to the game. Test modes for 6v6 will kick off on December 17, helping Blizzard gauge fan interest. On the other hand, Overwatch: Classic is just bringing back the 6v6 format to recapture the original gameplay loop of Overwatch in 2016—as opposed to being a definitive answer to fan demand.