Overwatch 2 Season 4 update: new hero, events, and long-awaited changes

Overwatch 2 Season 4 is getting extensive overhauls to fan-favorite characters and its seasonal matchmaking. These updates should make matchmaking, competitive ranks, and hero composition even more enjoyable. 

Starting April 11 the following season of Overwatch 2 brings in a fantastic new hero, a brand new theme, loads of events old and new, as well as some much-needed hero changes. All in all, it looks like Season 4 is going to be a great one. 

There’s a lot to dive into this Season to get ready for some expected and unexpected updates as we lay out everything there is to know in our Overwatch 2 Season 4 guide. 

Overwatch 2 Season 4

Season 4 Theme: Space Opera

Get ready to shoot for the stars with Overwatch 2 Season 4 with the new Battle Pass theme, Space Opera. This means we’ll see several new skins, sprays, and icons in the iconic galactic theme. 

Heroes like Winston, Hanzo, Doomfist, Mercy, Baptiste, and the brand-new Lifeweaver all have skins available for use in the Premium Battle Pass, many of which take inspiration from the season theme. The coveted level 80 hero skin is aptly awarded to Overwatch 2’s resident astrophysicist, Sigma. With a customizable and electrifying skin, this tank is certainbly receiving some star treatment.  

Season 4 hero: Lifeweaver

Season 4 of Overwatch 2 provides players with a new hero this time around. Hailing from Thailand, this scientist joins the support roster with some game-changing abilities. 

Focusing more on strategic play than healing, Lifeweaver is perfect for those control-freak support players who’d rather play a game of chess than fight in the mud with the rest of the team. Want to know more about Lifeweaver? Check out our hero guide for everything there is to know about this new hero. 

Season 4 New Map: Talantis

Last December, Game Director Aaron Keller and Art Director Dion Rodgers took to Twitch for a creative first. This livestream saw Keller and Rodgers make a new control map from scratch with help from the community. 

Complete with death pits, jump pads, and loads of giant fish Talon’s secret underwater base will be available in the Arcade from April 25 to May 1. However, this map is non-canon and so will not be a permanent feature. 

Season 4 Events: New and returning

Thai New Year  

The first event in Overwatch 2 Season 4 will celebrate the Thai New Year. From the beginning of Season 4 until April 25, fans will have plenty of time to enjoy new arcade modes, including B.O.B. and weave, and 3v3 deathmatch. 

Completing all of the Thai New Year challenges will reward players with special Lifeweaver as well as some themed prizes. 

Starwatch: Galactic Rescue  

This all-new PvP event will run from May 9 to May 22 and see two teams called Watchers and Infinite Empire fight against each other for control of the galaxy. 

This 4v4 game mode will occur on a reworked Horizon Lunar Colony map with the Watchers attacking the defending Infinite Empire. You’ll battle each other with new surprises and objectives appearing throughout the fight. 

Blizzard will reflect some of these loyalties in the skins in this season’s Battle Pass, Space Opera. Will you support Space Prince Lucio and Extraterrestrial Winston from the Watchers, or will your allegiances lie with Seer Mercy and Infinite Ace D.Va from the Infinite Empire? 

Return of Battle for Olympus  

These all-knowing, all-powerful deities are back for more Battle for Olympus fun in Overwatch 2 Season 4. Running from May 23 to May 29, Junker Queen, Reinhardt, and Ramattra, among others, will return with all their amped-up powers for the explosive free-for-all deathmatch.  

Season 4 Hero Updates: Balances and Nerfs

We’ll see a few key hero changes for Overwatch 2 Season 4. These include Brigitte, Mercy, Sigma, Reinhardt, and Cassidy. 

Blizzard has acknowledged in their seasonal update blog post that Mercy’s changes in Season 3 made the support hero “not as fun to play or play against”. Therefore, the devs are looking to revert these changes with adjustments to how Guardian Angel works and how her mobility functions in areas like boosted jump. 

Brigitte is also getting some hefty changes. Blizzard is reworking her ultimate ability, Rally, to provide recoverable armor that powers up her shield with better size, health, and ability to stun. 

Finally, Reinhardt, Sigma, and Cassidy will receive changes that’ll pull back their lethality. Fingers crossed that Cassidy’s homing missile, known as his Sticky Grenade, gets some much-needed reworking. Along with the average skill rating of the team being displayed at the beginning of a match, the hope is that these changes will make matchmaking more even between teams. 

Season 4 General updates: ranked and matchmaking

The competitive experience for Overwatch 2 Season 4 is finally getting some love. Starting at the beginning of the season, Blizzard will remove Seasonal Decay, meaning that players won’t see a dip in their tier and division if they play fewer matches.  

Changes are also being made to unranked matchmaking. The goal is to approve the experience for players that are backfilling in matches as players are matched with teammates and enemies on very similar skill levels. It will hopefully ease the blow of joining a particularly spicey match midway through.  

• I played over 500 games in Overwatch 2, and all I got was the Cyberdemon tag