Overwatch 2 receives limited-time "Classic" event featuring the first game's original roster, maps, and more

by Danny Craig  · 
Overwatch 2 receives limited-time "Classic" event featuring the first game's original roster, maps, and more
Blizzard Entertainment

Blizzard has announced the first of its new "Overwatch: Classic" events, which will allow players to revisit Overwatch with its original roster, balancing, maps, and modes from the game's launch in May 2016.

The details:

  • From November 12 to December 2, players will be able to play a recreation of Overwatch's 1.0 release, which includes 6v6 games featuring the game's original 21 heroes, complete with their old abilities and stats. The limited-time event will feature the Assault, Escort, Hybrid, and Control game modes on the 12 original OW1 maps, but the maps will use their OW2 versions. “This includes major reworks for Dorado, Numbani, Route 66, and Watchpoint: Gibraltar,” Blizzard said in its blog post. “Things like match timing and how elevator platforms work will still be the same as they appear in Overwatch 2 game modes.”

  • Blizzard intends for Overwatch: Classic to be a series of multiple events highlighting popular eras in the franchise's history. This includes the infamous three tank, three support meta pioneered by "Goats" that plagued the competitive scene from 2018 to 2019, as well as the Mercy "Moth" meta that was popular in 2017.

  • Blizzard isn't the only developer to have leaned heavily on nostalgia for in-game events in recent years. Most notably, Epic Games created Fortnite OG, a recreation of Fortnite as it existed at various points in Chapter 1. This resulted in a large influx of new and returning players, making it the "biggest day ever" for Fortnite at the time, with over 44.7 million players in total and a peak of over six million concurrent users.

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