Blizzard details changes and tweaks to competitive play in Overwatch 2

Just yesterday, Blizzard shared a ton of details on the upcoming release of Overwatch 2, and today they’re back with a follow-up feature. Today’s blog shares a bunch of details on how competitive play will work in Overwatch 2, and there are a number of changes as compared to the original outing.

While Blizzard’s blog is quite extensive, we’ve whittled down the details to just the most salient points. You can read a recap of what’s coming your way in Overwatch 2 competitive play below.

UNLOCKING COMPETITIVE - Overwatch 2 will not have portrait levels - match experience will go towards leveling up your Battle Pass - newcomers must play through a guided First-Time User Experience (FTUE) - newcomers must complete FTUE and win 50 Quick Play matches to unlock Competitive - SR is being replaced by Skill Tier Divisions - Tiers still exist in Competitive—Bronze through Grand Master - each tier will have five divisions ranking from 5 (lowest) to 1 (highest) - as you progress through each tier, your division will count down until you rank up - Top 500 will not have tier divisions - Tier Divisions represent the same skill levels as SR, but give players a higher-level view - each division represents approximately a 100 SR range - Players will receive a competitive update every seven wins, or 20 losses - Competitive skill tiers will no longer be displayed before each Competitive match - new scoreboard will help you identify your team’s needs and adjust your strategy - medals will be removed from the scoreboard - new ping system - you’ll be unranked until your first competitive update after the first seven wins or 20 losses - all players that were ranked in Competitive prior to Overwatch 2 will have their rank modified post-launch - most players will find their rank is slightly lower when they start out - new section to the Career Profile where you can find your replays and highlights - new feature called Game Reports under the History tab in your Career Profile - Game Reports provide a detailed summary of all the matches played - Top 500 Leaderboards will largely remain the same, separated by input pool - you still need to complete 25 games for any given role in Role Queue or 50 games in Open Queue - the combined role queue leaderboard requires you to complete at least 25 matches - Top 500 Leaderboards unlock two weeks into the start of each new season - cross platform players can view the separate leaderboards by input pool - players who haven’t played in a while will find their internal matchmaking rating lowered - adjustments to the internal matchmaking rating will move up or down more quickly - removing the commemorative sprays and icons players earned each season - new limited Competitive titles for your name card can be earned by climbing the ranks - you can only earn these titles at the end of the current Competitive season and only use them in the season following. - Competitive Points will continue to be the reward currency for winning Competitive matches, rewarding 10 points for a win, and three for a draw - earning 3,000 points allows you to unlock a Golden Weapon for any of Overwatch’s heroes - there will be a cap to the number of bonus Competitive Points earned at the end of a season to the highest skill tier you reach in any of your roles, including Open Queue