Overwatch is getting five new heroes in Season 1, including the highly-anticipated additions of Jetpack Cat and Emre.
Blizzard Entertainment’s Overwatch Spotlight stream this week was a juggernaut, revealing the game’s ambitious spread of content coming in 2026. First off, Overwatch 2 is dropping the ‘2’ and getting its original title back: Overwatch. The hero shooter is also going back to Season 1 on an annual basis with fresh storylines each year, starting with 2026’s Reign of Talon plotline.
Season 1 will kick off on 10 February, with five all-new heroes to play–including two familiar fan-favourites.
Overwatch’s 2026 storyline: The Reign of Talon
Overwatch is putting its focus back on its evolving universe this year, starting with a storyline that picks up with the rise of Vendetta, the Italian gladiator looking to usurp Doomfist and gain control of Talon. As revealed in an earlier Season 20 hero trailer, Vendetta has been fighting for power ever since the death of her father, a high-ranking Talon member named Antonio, left her without the rank she thinks she deserves.
In a recently-released cinematic, we see the events which kick off Overwatch’s upcoming Season 1 of content. In the midst of a Talon meeting between Doomfist and holograms of Reaper, Sombra, Widowmaker, Mauga, Maximilien, and Moira, Vendetta appears and challenges Doomfist for power over Talon. After a short scuffle, Vendetta succeeds in slicing Doomfist’s mechanical arm off, and kicks him out of a high-rise building. He is presumed dead.
The cinematic ends with Winston being caught off-guard by a sudden Talon invasion of Watchpoint: Gibraltar, the current headquarters of Overwatch. The rest of 2026 will see this Talon storyline play out through animated videos, comics, and in-game events in upcoming seasons. Each year will see a fresh storyline take over the game, as Blizzard takes the Fortnite route of annual refreshes.
Overwatch Season 1 brings five new heroes into the fray
Five new heroes are in the works for Season 1, with five more mystery heroes set to debut every season for the rest of 2026. These five new heroes are:
- Domina (Tank): the heiress of Vishkar Industries, who has a charge-up beam that ends in a burst shot as her primary weapon. Her hard-light technology allows her to deploy a shield, detonate an explosive crystal, and use sonic repulsors to push enemies back. She can also trap enemies in exploding hard-light barriers for her ultimate ability.
- Emre (Damage): A long-known ex-Overwatch Strike Team member has resurfaced with strange cybernetic modifications, which appear to affect his state of mind. He has a familiar shooter kit, with a three-round burst rifle as his primary fire, an aimed-down scope for high accuracy, a semi-auto pistol with lifesteal, and a frag grenade. His ultimate ability turns him into a living cannon.
- Mizuki (Support): A Hashimoto clan member (the same clan that went after Kiriko in her cinematic) who is currently aligned with Talon. He is currently tasked with infiltrating the Yokai (Kiriko’s faction). Mizuki throws a spinning blade that can bounce off walls to damage enemies, or throw his bouncing hat to heal allies. He also has a Tracer-like Recall ability called Katashiro Return, a damaging tethering chain, and a passive that lets him heal nearby enemies. His ultimate allows him to create a healing sanctuary.
- Anran (Damage): Anran is Wuyang’s older sister, harnessing the power of fire and joining Overwatch to keep Wuyang out of trouble. She can use hand fans to shoot fireballs, and proceed to fan those flames to amplify burning damage. She can also propel herself into enemies to damage them, or use Dancing Blaze to bounce between enemies and hurt them during an invincibility window. Her ultimate either revives herself after death in a fiery explosion, or allows her to charge forward at enemies and explode while being alive.
- Jetpack Cat (Support): At long last, Brigitte’s jetpack-wearing cat is officially joining the playable roster. This stray cat was adopted by Brigitte after she was found in Gibraltar, and now helps Overwatch in battle. She can heal allies and damage enemies with mid-range projectile spread as her primary fire, and accelerate while flying by using fuel. Her purr causes area heal that knocks back enemies, and her Lifeline ability allows her to tow allies while healing them. Her ultimate allows her to dive towards a location and knock down enemies, towing the nearest one away afterwards.
All five of these characters will be available to play in Season 1, but Anran will also be available early via a Hero Trial starting on 5 February, 2026.
Find more in-depth details on these heroes and their kits here!
Conquest in-game event
Overwatch Season 1 will kick off with a five-week event that has players compete against one another in one of two factions, completing missions tied to the lore and gaining rewards based on the winning faction. These are all the rewards you can get:
- 75 Base Lootboxes
- 12 Epic Lootboxes
- 7 Legendary Lootboxes
- 9 new Voice Lines
- 31 2D Cosmetics
- 2 Weapon Charms
- 1 of 2 faction-themed Legendary Echo skins
- Exclusive new Rare, Epic and Legendary titles (and a secret hidden one)
2026 Competitive Mode update
Competitive Mode is getting a rank reset this year, and the addition of the new Crimson Wolf competitive weapon. Diamond players or higher, will also get a new Doomfist competitive skin. Competitive titles will also have rarity applied, and Top 500 players will get more dynamic titles illustrating their finishes.
Big UI/UX changes coming to Overwatch Season 1
Overwatch’s 10-year-old main menu is getting reinvigorated with all-new UI and UX elements. That means all-new play cards, navigation elements, hero galley, lobby, and social panel menus are coming, allowing players to more simply hop from one point of the menu to the other.
Quality-of-life changes
Players can now use unique hero voicelines to commend their teammates using the new Praise feature, and make additional sound/music tweaks while in the lobby. Post-match accolades are also coming back, with the use of full 3D hero models, rather than the old card-based system. The game is also coming to Nintendo Switch 2 in Season 2.
Stadium changes are also in the works
Vendetta is officially joining Overwatch’s Stadium game mode, which is also getting a faster best-of-seven style flow, with Competitive Stadium: Power rounds now running for 1/2/4/6. UI refreshes are also coming to the Armoury, with the development team placing an emphasis on making all of the player’s purchasable abilities and items as easy to read and understand as possible.
The Hero Builder feature will also allow players to select streamlined hero builds, based on others players’ data.
More collabs and Mythic skins are coming to Overwatch
Overwatch is introducing its most adorable collaboration yet: Hello Kitty & Friends. This crossover brings six new hero skins themed after Hello Kitty, Cinnamoroll, Pompompurin, My Melody, and more, for Widowmaker, Kiriko, Juno, and three other heroes.
Season 1 will also include Talon-based faction skins in the battle pass, with new cosmetic bundles themed after rainy day vibes and Valentine’s Day. The lootbox cosmetic pool is also expanding with more skins from the last six seasons, including Dokiwatch outfits.
Two new Mythic skins will also be arriving in Overwatch every season in 2026. In Season 1, players will get a Celestial Guardian skin for Mercy and a Star Shooter skin for Juno’s weapon. Later in Season 1, Mei’s first Mythic skin will land. In future seasons, Mythics for Illari, Mauga, and Soldier: 76 will arrive.
Overwatch Esports heats up in 2026
Overwatch Esports is also cooking up two big events this year. The Overwatch Champions Series (OWCS) will kick off this weekend with a Bootcamp in Seoul, before the full competitive season launches on 21 March ahead of its World Finals in China.
After that, the Overwatch World Cup will return, with countries battling it out in regional qualifiers before the main event hits BlizzCon 2026 in September. An Esports Lootbox will also be available for players to earn Overwatch Esports Skins.
Overwatch's 2026 roadmap
Overwatch Season 1 kicks off on 10 February, 2026.
