Overwatch: What updates and events are coming next?

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Blizzard has a habit of re-launching Overwatch’s seasonal events, like Halloween Terror, Summer Games, and Lunar New Year. New content typically comes along with the release of these events, so there’s always something for fans to look forward to.

So what’s next on the docket? We’ve got you covered.

What’s coming next?

Overwatch events

Overwatch‘s annual Lunar New Year event ended earlier this month, sending this year’s set of cosmetics to the game’s vault alongside older skins from previous years.

Related: Overwatch’s Lunar New Year skins leaked

Now that the Lunar New Year festivities have come to a close, fans can look forward to the annual Overwatch Archives event, which usually begins around mid-April.

Overwatch 2

During BlizzCon 2019, Blizzard Entertainment dropped a bombshell of an announcement: Overwatch‘s sequel is now in early development. The developer released a short trailer for the new game and a few details covering what’s in store for the future of the franchise, including new story-based campaigns and a new PvP mode named Push.

Related: Everything we know about Push, Overwatch’s new multiplayer mode

The sequel will feature a new engine and a redesigned look for each of the base game’s heroes. Overwatch 2 will also introduce a few new maps to coincide with the release of its new multiplayer and campaign modes.

A now-deleted post from the Brazilian PlayStation Twitter account claimed that the Overwatch sequel would be releasing sometime this year, although Blizzard has yet to confirm or deny this information.

New heroes

In addition to new game modes, Blizzard revealed Overwatch 2 would release with multiple new heroes—two of which were shown at BlizzCon: Echo and Sojourn.

Echo appeared in the Overwatch 2 trailer fighting alongside the game’s beloved cast, which suggests she’ll be a part of the sequel when it launches. Blizzard remained tight-lipped about the omnic hero, but the game’s lead director Jeff Kaplan confirmed a second hero, Sojourn, as another new character joining the game. She appeared in a gameplay trailer briefly, but little was shown regarding her abilities or role in the game.

Hero Pools

Earlier in the week, Blizzard revealed a new Overwatch feature named Hero Pools, which is set to arrive on live servers in March. The feature will disable a selection of heroes from competitive play for an entire week. Each week’s selection of heroes will be decided by the design team.

Hero Pools aims “to help move players off of the meta or to prevent players from stagnating on any one meta too long,” according to lead game director Jeff Kaplan. With new heroes rotating out of selection every week, team compositions will fluctuate frequently enough to keep players trying out new strategies throughout seasons.

Hero Pools will arrive in ranked play during Overwatch’s season 21, which launches on live servers on March 5. The feature will not be included in Arcade modes or quickplay.