Blizzard Entertainment has unveiled its exciting roadmap for Overwatch 2 Stadium for 2025, providing a glimpse into the heroes and features set to be introduced in Season 17, Season 18, Season 19, and beyond. In a detailed Director’s Take blog post, game director Aaron Keller shared insights into the new mode's past, present, and future, along with a surprise summer roadmap, just over a week after its launch.
Stadium Gets 7 New Heroes This Summer -------------------------------------The rollout of Stadium will continue with the introduction of the new Damage hero, Freja, in a mid-season patch for Season 16. However, it's Season 17 in June that promises to elevate the experience. This season will see the addition of Junkrat, Sigma, and Zenyatta to the roster, accompanied by the new Esperança Push map and Samoa Control map. Blizzard plans to enhance the Stadium mode further by introducing Unranked Crossplay, new all-star rewards, custom games, additional example builds, and the ability to save and share builds. While it's not clear if all these features will be available at the start of Season 17 or rolled out throughout the season, the anticipation is high.
Season 18 will bring the iconic gorilla hero, Winston, into the fray, along with Sojourn and Brigitte. The Route 66 and London maps will also be added, alongside a new Payload Race game mode, which will include two new maps, a Stadium trials feature, and the option to Endorse teammates. Blizzard has assured fans that "multiple new heroes," both from the existing Overwatch 2 roster and new characters, will be added to the mode each season. Looking ahead to Season 19 and beyond, a new China map, a Draft Mode feature, consumables, and item system tweaks are all in the pipeline.
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 on Stadium's performance, revealing it as the most played mode in the game. During its launch week, Stadium saw 2.3 million matches played over 7.8 million hours, surpassing both Quick Play and Competitive modes. 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 yet the lowest pick rate, while players have spent a staggering 900 billion Stadium Cash on 206 million items for their builds.
In his Director’s Take, Aaron Keller clarified that Stadium was in development before Overwatch 2's launch, dispelling rumors that it was created to compete with Marvel Rivals, which debuted in December 2024. Keller promised continued communication about Stadium, with more insights to be shared in the following week. He also reaffirmed Blizzard's commitment to maintaining the core experiences of Quick Play and Competitive, emphasizing that Stadium is an additional avenue to deliver Overwatch in a fresh and exciting way.
AnswerSee ResultsKeller concluded by expressing excitement for Season 18, describing it as a "banger," and encouraged players to enjoy Stadium while looking forward to future updates. Overwatch 2 introduced Stadium with the launch of Season 16 last week, as part of Blizzard's broader efforts to reinvigorate 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, with many players feeling that this is the best Overwatch experience in years.
As we await further updates, you can explore our comprehensive guide to learn more about how Stadium works. Additionally, check out our recommendations for the best Tank Builds, DPS Builds, and Support Builds to optimize your gameplay experience.
