Fornite is doing it, Apex Legends is doing it, and now Overwatch 2 is looking to tweak nostalgia nubbins by having a nostalgic throwback season of its own – specifically to celebrate the series’ eighth anniversary this year – and it’ll include the return of 6v6 games.
Blizzard has discussed resurrecting 6v6 matches for Overwatch 2 since July, when it admitted the switch to 5v5 had come “at the cost of match variety and player freedom”. Later, it laid out more definite plans for 6v6’s return, confirming it would be holding “two different 6v6 tests” as part of Overwatch 2’s Season 14 in December. Obviously, though, it’s not yet December, and Blizzard has confirmed 6v6’s imminent return as part of its newly announced limited-time Overwatch: Classic mode is “separate from our broader 6v6 plans”.
Overwatch: Classic runs from tomorrow, 12th November, to 2nd December, and consists of a series of events featuring Overwatch’s original heroes, abilities, and maps. While Blizzard is teasing the “fast paced and frantic gameplay of the 2017 Moth Meta [and] the triple-tank, triple-support style of ‘Goats'” further down the line, things kick off with a mode inspired by Overwatch’s version 1.0 release back in May 2016.
This is set to feature Overwatch’s original line-up of 21 heroes, its first 12 maps, plus “many abilities that haven’t been seen for years and all the chaotic gameplay from that era”. Heroes will be grouped by their original classes but can be deployed as players see fit, and, for the funsies, there’ll be a No Hero Limits rule for the “first few days” – although single hero limits will be implemented for the remainder of this first Overwatch: Classic event.