Overwatch 2 Stadium Summer Roadmap Unveiled by Blizzard

Blizzard Entertainment has unveiled its exciting roadmap for Overwatch 2 Stadium in 2025, detailing the heroes and features set to be introduced in Season 17, Season 18, Season 19, and beyond. This roadmap provides a glimpse into the future of the popular hero shooter's new mode, shared through a comprehensive Director’s Take blog post by game director Aaron Keller.

Stadium Gets 7 New Heroes This Summer

The rollout of Stadium will continue with the introduction of new Damage hero Freja in a mid-season patch for Season 16. However, it's Season 17 in June that promises significant updates. Junkrat, Sigma, and Zenyatta will join the roster of playable heroes, accompanied by the new Esperança Push map and Samoa Control map. Blizzard plans to enhance the Stadium experience further by introducing Unranked Crossplay, new all-star rewards, custom games, additional example builds, and options to save and share builds. While it's unclear whether all heroes and features will launch simultaneously at the start of Season 17 or be rolled out throughout the season, the anticipation is palpable.

Season 18 will see the addition of Overwatch's iconic gorilla, Winston, along with Sojourn and Brigitte. This season will also introduce the Route 66 and London maps, and a new Payload Race game mode featuring two new maps. The Stadium trials feature and the ability to Endorse teammates will also be part of this exciting update.

Looking further ahead, Season 19 and beyond will bring a new China map and a Draft Mode feature, along with consumables, item system tweaks, and more. Blizzard's commitment to continuously adding new heroes, both from the existing roster and future characters, ensures a dynamic and evolving gameplay experience.

Overwatch 2 Stadium summer 2025 roadmap. Image courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment.

How has Stadium Performed so Far?

The Overwatch 2 team has shared impressive statistics about Stadium's performance, revealing it has quickly become the most played mode, surpassing Quick Play and Competitive. During its launch week, Stadium saw 2.3 million matches played across 7.8 million hours. This is more than double the engagement seen during Overwatch Classic's launch week. Notably, Lucio has emerged as the hero with the highest win rate but the lowest pick rate, while players have spent 900 billion Stadium Cash selecting 206 million items for their builds.

In his Director’s Take, Aaron Keller confirmed that Stadium was in development before Overwatch 2's launch, dispelling rumors that it was created in response to Marvel Rivals, which launched in December 2024. Keller also emphasized Blizzard's ongoing commitment to transparent communication, promising more insights into Stadium next week.

Commitment to Core Modes

While Stadium has captured the community's attention, Keller reassured players that Blizzard remains dedicated to maintaining and improving the core experiences of Quick Play and Competitive modes. He stated, "We’re still pouring as much time, energy, and passion into these as we always have. Stadium isn't competing for those resources: it’s giving us more opportunities to deliver Overwatch in a new, exciting way."

Keller expressed enthusiasm for upcoming seasons, particularly Season 18, describing it as a "banger" and encouraging players to enjoy Stadium while looking forward to future updates.

Reinvigorating the Player Base

Overwatch 2 introduced Stadium with the launch of Season 16, as part of Blizzard's broader effort to revitalize its player base. This initiative began with an all-encompassing Spotlight presentation in February, leading to the return of loot boxes and an improved Steam rating. Many players feel this is the best Overwatch experience in years.

As we await further updates, you can explore our guide to understand how Stadium works and check our recommendations for the best Tank Builds, DPS Builds, and Support Builds.