Overwatch 2 Season 16 will keep 6v6 due to popular demand

Overwatch 2 developer Blizzard Entertainment has announced that 6v6 open queue will remain active throughout Season 16 in both quickplay and competitive.

Detailed in the latest Director’s Take blog post, the studio shares that it is exploring how ‘5v5 role queue and 6v6 open queue can coexist’ in the long term.

According to the studio, there was a 3:1 ratio of players choosing 5v5 competitive over 6v6, but the latter ‘remained steady’ throughout Season 15. Despite having a two-tank limit, preventing the GOATS meta from returning, developers acknowledged that 6v6 was in high demand.

In the blog post, Alec Dawson, Associate Game Director for Overwatch 2, said: “We were curious how the two-tank limit would pan out, but most games landed on the classic two-tank, two DPS, two support setup.

“Tank players in 6v6 clearly enjoy having another tank ‘buddy’ in their corner and no matter which role they choose, players are loving shorter queue times and the ability to swap roles within a match. There’s also a heightened sense of chaos that some folks just can’t get enough of.”

6v6 has been one of the most popular and divisive topics in Overwatch 2, and saw demand in esports and casual scenes. It was initially introduced as a limited-time event last December as Overwatch Classic. When it was reintroduced as a mid-season update for Season 15, 6v6 open queue became the third most popular mode according to Blizzard.

Overwatch 2 Season 16 kicks off on April 22nd and will run until July 1st, 2025, marking what may be the beginning of a more permanent stay for the new 6v6 format.

The Director’s Take blog post also shared changes to it’s new perk system, which recently got introduced to OWCS, updating pre-existing perks while adding in new ones.

Here is a brief breakdown of all the perk changes coming in Season 16.

It also shared that Tracer will receive nerfs to her perks that alter her blinks, potentially Blink Packs and/or Flashback. It also teased that one of Mei’s old mechanics will return as a perk, which some speculate might be reintroducing freezing to her primary fire.