When does Overwatch 2 season 3 start? Patch notes & battle pass skins revealed
Get ready for some Valentine's fun in Overwatch 2.
Activision Blizzard is kicking off Overwatch 2 season 3 today, with a big set of changes and upgrades to the game.
As ever, you can expect a hefty pile of patch notes and a whole new set of battle pass skins to collect. This season also has a fun Valentine's Day twist and lots of technical changes behind the scenes.
Keep on reading to find out when Overwatch 2 season 3 starts in the UK and what you can expect to see once the update has taken effect!
When does Overwatch 2 season 3 start?
Here in the UK, we are expecting the Overwatch 2 season 3 start time to be 7pm GMT on Tuesday 7th February.
That's today, fact fans, so you should be able to jump into all of the new content this evening. Have fun!
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Overwatch 2 season 3 patch notes explained
What's new in Overwatch 2 season 3? The game's developers, Activision Blizzard, have shared the first wave of patch notes in an official blog post stuffed with key details about the new season. We've listed the key things to look out for below!
The new Control map, Arctic Peninusla, seems to be one of the biggest additions. Blizzard has said: "This snow-themed Control map features some unique sights, including an ice-breaker ship and an underground drilling station. With tons of flank routes and some offering a high-ground advantage over high-traffic areas and objectives, we can’t wait to see how the meta unfolds for this chilly battleground!"
The season will have an Asian mythology theme, with Blizzard promising "some of our most unique skins to date, and a few [that] have some fun lore connections we think players will love". If you complete the Premium Battle Pass, you'll unlock the Amaterasu Kiriko Mythic skin pictured below.
Blizzard has also promised more rewards, more often including "10 additional tiers of rewards on the free track, as well as 1500 Credits to earn and spend as you please in the Hero Gallery." The developers have added 500 Credits to the Premium track, too.
There will also be a Valentine's Day Event from 13th February onwards, offering "a Hanzo 4v4 Limited Time Mode and Support-themed challenges that can net you two earnable epic skins, among other rewards".
Blizzard is also adding Loverwatch, a non-canon text-based dating sim. In this temporary mode, "players will choose between two potential dating paths: Mercy or Genji". Activision Blizzard explained: "Players will be presented with dialogue options to interact with that hero and will be assisted by Cupid (who looks suspiciously like Hanzo). Unlock the secret ending, and you’ll be rewarded with a themed POTG Highlight!"
There will be a One-Punch Man event from 7th March to 6th April, bringing "a collection of cosmetics from the beloved anime, including Saitama skin for Doomfist" as well as "a Legendary skin that’s earnable via themed challenges".
From 21st March to 4th April, PachiMarchi will return to Overwatch for "a new limited-time Kill Confirmed game mode and a ton of rewards, including an epic skin, six PachiMarchi player icons, a weapon charm, and name card".
Season 3 will also see the return of the advanced workshop tools for custom game creators, with Blizzard adding "new moderation technology that will automatically remove custom games containing inappropriate titles or content".
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On the technical side, Activision Blizzard has promised to add Streamer Protection and accessibility improvements this season, as well as implementing these changes behind the scenes:
- The health totals for all tanks will be lower when playing any game mode that does not have a role queue to address the relative power of those heroes in game modes where there can be multiple of the same hero on the same team. Health totals will remain the same for tanks when playing any Role Queue enabled game.
- Maximum ultimate charge retained when swapping heroes is reduced from 30 to 25 per cent.
- Mercy is receiving nerfs, and most supports have received minor balance changes.
- Damaging enemies with Rammatra’s ultimate now slows the duration timer down instead of pausing it entirely.
- The matchmaker will be updated so that roles on both teams will be similarly ranked. For example, mirroring tanks should more often have similar ranks than before, and likewise, for each respective role.
- Your competitive rank will update with every five wins and 15 losses.
- In the mid-season patch for season 3, Activision Blizzard be updating the UI so information about your progress towards a competitive update will always be viewable.
- Also, beginning with the mid-season patch, Top 500 Leaderboard players will see their Top 500 leaderboard rank updated after every match rather than every five wins and 15 losses.
Overwatch 2 season 3 battle pass skins revealed
Later today, the full Overwatch 2 season 3 battle pass will be revealed and we'll learn how to earn all of the new skins in the game. Until then, take a look at the trailer below where you can see a lot of the new skins in action:
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