All 32 characters will return to the fight in the next Overwatch League season, according to Overwatch 2 game director Aaron Keller—and fans may even see new faces when the competition’s next season starts.
During today’s Overwatch League grand finals broadcast, Keller revealed all 32 heroes from Overwatch will return in the OWL’s 2022 season, which will run in an early build of Overwatch 2. He also hinted at the possibility of “a few more” new faces.
“Our plan is that we will have all of those heroes, all 32 of those heroes, playable for the next season of Overwatch League,” Keller said. “And who knows, there might even be a few more.”
Although we don’t have any information on who these heroes are, the next season of the OWL running on an early build of Overwatch 2 provides an opportunity to glimpse a few of the new characters when the competition kicks off in April, as hinted by Keller.
In addition to Keller’s hints, the OWL grand finals halftime exhibition match showcased several returning heroes and led fans through the new Push map, Rome. This was also our first glimpse at professional gameplay involving the Sombra and Bastion reworks, announced earlier in the show. Keller noted that more reworks for existing heroes are on the horizon, though he didn’t give any further details.
Sojourn, revealed in full during BlizzConline 2019, is one of the new heroes in Overwatch 2, but it’s still unclear if she will be available during the next season of the Overwatch League. The Canadian hero will join the roster alongside a new Push map located in the snowy city of Toronto when Overwatch 2 releases, and she will bolster the ranks of damage-focused heroes armed with her railgun—the first of its kind in the franchise.
Although fans can get a taste of Overwatch 2 when the next season of the OWL kicks off in April, the sequel doesn’t have a set release date yet.
