Hello everybody! We have cherished listening to your enthusiasm for Stadium and most of all, we have cherished watching you all play it. There’s already been a lot creativity with builds. Not that we have been shocked by that—we knew you wouldn’t disappoint!
Earlier than I get into present adjustments and future developments, I might like to present slightly historical past of Stadium in hopes that it offers you some context as to the place it’s headed. Plus, I just like the title “Previous, Current, and Future”!
Previous
Stadium emerged as an thought earlier than Overwatch 2 launched. In truth, earlier than it was offered to the crew, one in every of my youngsters created the primary pitch doc with a pattern stage and offered it to me! Stadium has come a great distance since then, however I all the time consider my son when taking part in.
Early variations seemed slightly completely different from the mode you’re taking part in immediately. Stadium was initially targeted on offering as a lot selection as doable. It was arrange as an eight-team match. Every spherical, gamers picked from random upgrades to make use of in fight phases of Crew Deathmatch or versus AI, dropping well being in the event that they misplaced the spherical. However it was tough to create a coherent technique or builds to counter opponents when the choices have been made via random choice.
This transformation into the format you see immediately displays a shift in our considering: we nonetheless need there to be selection from match to match in Stadium, however selection is not the best precedence. We wish you to really feel balanced and aggressive, whereas making epic builds via strategic decisions primarily based on the efficiency and Hero compositions of everybody within the match.
Current
Talking of preserving issues balanced and aggressive, the crew is already planning tweaks primarily based on the suggestions and knowledge we’ve acquired since launch.
Whereas we regularly see a giant spike in play time shortly after a glittery new occasion launches, play time in Stadium has been a bit stickier. In its first week, roughly 50% of all play hours in Overwatch 2 have been dedicated to Stadium!
In terms of builds and Hero stability, we’ll be accumulating knowledge over the subsequent few weeks to see what adjustments have to be made for the midseason stability patch, if not earlier.
There are various gears turning behind the scenes in the case of Stadium. The event crew answered a few of your burning questions in a Reddit AMA earlier this week and we’ll be sharing extra insights and Stadium knowledge in a particular Director’s Take subsequent week!
Future
When you like taking part in Stadium, you will be glad to know that we now have numerous large plans for it. There might be seasonal updates to Stadium which is able to embrace the discharge of recent Heroes, maps, sport modes, methods and options, in addition to the standard care we put into different modes of Overwatch.
What’s coming to Stadium over the subsequent two seasons? Rather a lot!
The crew simply put out an intensive roadmap for Stadium that reveals extra of our future plans for the mode.
Heroes: Our latest addition to the Overwatch roster may even be the primary new Hero added Freja is headed to Stadium and she or he’ll arrive with the Season 16 midseason patch. However she’s not the one Hero on the way in which! We’ll have new Heroes added each Season, since we predict including new heroes is critically vital for Stadium. Every time we have launched a brand new addition internally, they’ve completely shifted the meta and the way in which we considered placing collectively a construct.
Recreation Modes: We’re planning on releasing a brand new sport mode inside Stadium named Payload Race and two brand-new maps will launch with it. On prime of that, we’ll be integrating a brand new mechanic that we’ve been calling “Quests” internally. In the beginning of every match, gamers will choose from a random set of quests that may dole out rewards as soon as goals are accomplished.
Programs: Whereas we’re actually excited for brand spanking new content material in Stadium, we predict methods that affect the way in which you set a construct collectively can have a good higher influence. In Season 17, we’ll be releasing a construct importer and exporter. This won’t solely enable gamers to place collectively builds exterior of a Stadium match after which choose them inside a match, it should additionally enable gamers to pick from neighborhood builds as properly.
You’ve additionally made your voices heard on a subject that’s crucial to all of us: Cross-Play! Since Stadium has a aggressive system, it follows the principles of our core aggressive mode, which doesn’t enable PC and Console gamers to group. Since that is the one method to play the mode, we agree, and we’d love to do one thing about it. We’re presently investigating what it will take to make an unranked model of the mode. This may enable teams of associates to play collectively and would give us the power to make different adjustments as properly, presumably introducing a best-of-5 format to the mode.
Earlier than signing off, I might prefer to reiterate the crew’s dedication to the opposite core modes of Overwatch. We’re nonetheless pouring as a lot time, power and fervour into these as we all the time have. Stadium is not competing for these sources: it’s giving us extra alternatives to ship Overwatch in a brand new, thrilling manner.
We won’t wait so that you can see what’s coming there, particularly Season 18. It should be a banger! Have enjoyable with Stadium and, as all the time, let’s make an awesome sport.
