Overwatch 2 Season 18 is about to start, and that means many additions are coming to the game. From a completely new hero to a plethora of new perks, mythic cosmetics, a refresh on the progression system, and more.
We have a summary of all the major additions this season brings, so you know everything before jumping back into the action.
When does Overwatch 2 Season 18 start?
Season 18 of Overwatch 2 is scheduled to come out on Tuesday, August 26th, at 11:00 AM PT (7:00 PM BST) for all platforms.
PC players will be able to preload this season's patch a few days before its release, with the Friday before always being the tentative date. On the other hand, console players will have to wait until a few hours before release to start preloading.
The new season is expected to last around 8-9 weeks, with Season 18 having lasted a bit longer than usual due to most of the developers taking some time off for the annual summer break.
Trailer
Here is this season's official trailer so you can get a look at everything that's coming to the shooter:
New hero: Wuyang
First announced at the Overwatch Spotlight event back in February, the new season will add a brand-new hero called Wuyang. He will join the roster as the 44th playable character, and once it goes live on August 13th, you'll be able to see his gameplay trailer below:
For more information about this upcoming hero, you can visit this article, where we will gather all of his information and abilities.
Stadium changes and additions
Thanks to the Stadium roadmap released at the start of Season 17 and the Season 18 trailer, these are the additions coming to Stadium:
- Pharah, Winston, and Brigitte will be added.
- Tracer will be added with the midseason update.
- Payload Race will be a new mode, and it will have two maps on debut, one based on Route 66 and another based on King's Row.
- Draft mode will be added, and mirror matches will be blocked at the start of the season.
- New rewards for those who achieve All-Star, like the D.Va All-Star skin.
- Endorsements will be implemented
- An unranked playlist will be introduced, with crossplay and backfill support.
After the 2025 Mid-Season Championship finals at EWC 2025, a Stadium showmatch took place to give us a first look at the new heroes in this mode and one of the new Payload Race maps.
Skins and cosmetics
Following the trend from last season, two new mythic items will be introduced at the start of the season. The first one is the Ultraviolet Sentinel mythic skin for Sojourn, whose base form is white with some pink/purple cyberpunk marks.
The mythic will have four levels of customization, and here is what every level unlocks:
- Level 1 unlocks the base skin featuring a brand-new cybernetic outfit and new visual/sound effects for all key abilities, making her feel like she’s transformed with cutting edge cyber-light technology, paired with a slick white colorway and loc hairstyle.
- Level 2 changes Sojourn's look with a sleek, spiked hairstyle and a pink colorway, bringing extra energy to every match.
- Level 3 introduces long braids with a black and red colorway for a more commanding presence on the battlefield.
- Level 4 adds fully toggleable ambient VFX, letting you turn on extra visual flair and truly stand out.
The second mythic will be a weapon skin for Cassidy called Blazing Sunsetter, turning his revolver into a gun with a fiery barrel. Just like the skin, the weapon will have four levels of customization, and here are the details:
- Level 1 unlocks Blazing Sunsetter with a high-tech tactical model designed for high noon standoffs.
- Level 2 activates dynamic reactivity. The weapon will overheat with your fire gameplay, ejecting pieces of the casings to reveal its molten core.
- Level 3 provides the weapon's custom flourish animation, giving Cassidy a whole new way to flaunt his style between fights.
- Level 4 brings the flex: a deadly kill effect that turns every final blow into a showstopper.
In terms of normal skins, the following image contains all the legendary outfits that will be available through the Season 18 battle pass:
We expect more skins to be available on the pass, but those will probably be Rare skins, meaning the differences from the base skin will be less.
The shop will also have some new skins on offer throughout the season, including some new beach skins for Illari, Junker Queen, Reinhardt, and Mercy. The following image contains all the legendary skins coming to the shop:
New perks
Just as Blizzard promised at the start of Season 15, when the feature was first introduced, every hero is receiving at least one new perk this season. We won't go over the list of all new perks as we have made a separate article for you to check out here.
Other details
Here are some minor details and speculations we have about the new season, so you don't miss out on anything:
- The Juno mythic skin will become available on the mythic shop once the season begins.
- We can expect one or two collaborations throughout the season with other IPs, with the first one being a Persona 5 crossover.
- The Summer Games event is back and will be live from September 2 to 5. Players can enjoy Lucioball and Lucioball Remix in third-person view now.
- Hero progression has been reworked, with a new UI and prestige feature that gives rewards like portrait borders.
- A new info panel for all heroes' abilities will be added.
- The competitive ranks will be reset and a soft MMR reset will also be applied for all accounts.
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