While there are already lots of team vs. team fights to be had in Overwatch 2, none of them is in a more structured arena-based format. That won’t be the case when Season 16 arrives on Tuesday, April 22nd, which is when the new – and permanent – Stadium mode will open up for players to try out.
The video showcase that Blizzard promised last week provides a visual overview of how the mode works: In summary, two teams of five engage in one of three modes in a best-of-seven fight, with stadium cash earned during each fight that can be spent on new hero powers and equippable items in between rounds. The footage features plenty of combat sizzle and also some attempted acting by some Overwatch esports pros at one point. For some reason.
Successive dev blogs have shared more granular details such as mode-specific rankings and rewards, a third-person view for the game, the benefits of items purchased between rounds, various helpful UI features like one that lets teams observe opponents’ buy strategy, and adjustments to prevent snowballing and tweak a mercy rule that ends a match early if one side wins 3-0 and has 15,000 stadium cash or more.
