Next week, Overwatch 2 Season 17 will officially launch with a handful of upgrades, new additions, and modifications. One of the most prominent changes will be the introduction of map voting in quick play and competitive that lets players have a voice in where their battle unfolds.
As explained on Overwatch’s official site, players will be able to choose between three randomized maps ahead of their matches. The maps aren’t simply selected by the vote, however. Instead, each vote adds a 1-in-10 chance that a map will be chosen in the final roulette style roll. Your voting picks are hidden from other players, and leaver penalties will be implemented as soon as voting starts for anyone trying to duck out early.
Blizzard also shared the launch trailer for Overwatch 2 Season 17, which has a distinctly ’80s throwback aesthetic.
On the first day of Season 17, Mythic skins for D.Va and Reaper will debut simultaneously. D.Va’s Mythic Horang Hero Skin has four stages of evolving tiers, and so does Reaper’s Mythic Steel Death Weapon Skin. Both skins will be available through the Mythic Shop in exchange for 80 Mythic Prisms.
Three new maps are coming to the game as well, including a Flashpoint map called Aatlis, which is set in Morocco. That map will be available in Core, while Esperança and Samoa are heading to Stadium. Season 17 will reset everyone’s Stadium rank and give players a chance to start fresh. Stadium Forge will also be introduced as “a create/save/share system to test and refine your team comps.”
Season 17 Premium Battle Pass features 8-bit Reinhardt, Genji, Sombra, Delinquent Cole Cassidy, Sakura Ana, and Professor Fawkes Junkrat from Overwatch Academy. Battle Pass owners will also get loot boxes, 500 credits, new cosmetics, and up to 80 Mythic Prisms. The Ultimate Battle Pass includes all of those perks as well as 20 tier skips, 2,000 Overwatch coins and exclusive skins for Principal Lacroix Widowmaker and Professor de Kuiper Sigma. For players who don’t want to spend any money, they can earn a Legendary loot box, 600 coins, 1,500 Credits, as well as the Epic 8-bit Orisa and Zenyatta skins.
Overwatch 2 Season 17 will begin on June 24. The season will kick off with a Powered Up event from June 24 to June 30, which invites players to complete 17 matches in quick play, competitive, or Stadium to earn four Epic loot boxes, which will have a guaranteed Legendary skin.
