Overwatch Season 2: Summit is live

Overwatch Season 2: Summit is live

Overwatch Season 2: Summit is live. This is the second chapter in the Reign of Talon year-long arc, and it's a meaty update — new DPS hero Sierra, a three-week Operation: Grand Mesa event, reworked Post-Match Accolades, the Antarctic Peninsula rework, map voting changes, a Perks refresh with several perks moved into base kits, Stadium updates, and a Nintendo Switch 2 version launch.

Here's the rundown.

Overwatch Season 2: Summit at a glance

• Season 2: Summit launched April 14, 2026 at 11am PT / 2pm ET / 7pm GMT
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• Sierra is the new DPS hero (the 51st hero added to the game) with the Recon subrole
• Operation: Grand Mesa event runs April 14 – May 12
• Post-Match Accolades return with a new 3D stage, MVP voting, and hero endorsements
• Match Voice Chat is available at end-of-match as an opt-in experiment (including talking to the enemy team)
• Antarctic Peninsula has been reworked
• Map voting updates: New/Reworked map tags, Random Map option, Landslide vote system
• Perks refresh: select perks moved into base kits; new perks added; perk costs adjusted
• Stadium: Ramattra added, new Lijiang Night Market Control map
• Mythic skin: Volted Overdrive Soldier: 76
• Mythic weapon skin: Sumi-ichimonji for Genji
• Junkrat's Loot Hunt returns May 8 – 11
• Nintendo Switch 2 version launched

Sierra is the new DPS hero

Sierra is the Head of Security at Watchpoint: Grand Mesa and joins the roster as a Damage hero in the Recon subrole. Blizzard's official framing: she "defended against Talon" at Watchpoint: Grand Mesa, and her mother was the first test subject in the Soldier Enhancement Program — her search for answers brought her to Jack Morrison and Gabriel Reyes.

Her kit includes:

• Helix Rifle (primary weapon, spiral spray that tightens with sustained fire, 2x crit damage)
• Anchor Drone — launch and reactivate to grapple toward it
• Tracking Shot — marks an enemy so Helix Rifle shots automatically track them
• Dorothy — her combat drone

Her perks:

• Minor: Full Flight (Anchor Drone flight and grapple range +25%)
• Minor: Tight Grip (Helix Rifle spread tightens 100% faster, widens 30% slower)
• Major: Medi-Drone (Anchor Drones carry a small health pack)
• Major: Locked In (firing Tracking Shot increases attack speed by 20% for 2 seconds)

One Recon subrole note worth flagging if you play Sierra, Sojourn, or anyone with Recon abilities: vision duration on low-health enemies has been reduced from 5 to 3.5 seconds across the subrole.

Operation: Grand Mesa runs until May 12

Three-week limited event structured around the aftermath of Sierra's stand against Talon. It unfolds across multiple tiers of challenges with its own UI tracker.

How the structure works, per Blizzard's patch notes:

• Week 1: Tier 1 challenges unlock, plus tougher Meta challenges
• Week 2: Tier 2 challenges unlock — but only after you complete the non-Meta Tier 1 challenges
• All three weeks are available to finish every Tier 1, Tier 2, and Meta challenge
• Progress on the Rewards Pass also unlocks lore entries

Confirmed rewards from the event: 1 Epic Lootbox, 1 Legendary Lootbox, 1 Rare Title, 3 Battle Pass Tier Skips, plus Sierra cosmetics (2 voice lines, 1 spray, 1 avatar, 1 namecard).

One note on dates: Blizzard's launch blog initially mentioned May 4 as the end date, but the official Season 2 patch notes list April 14 – May 12. Go with the patch notes.

Post-Match Accolades and end-of-match voice chat

Post-Match Accolades are back, redesigned. The end-of-round cards now put the top two performers from each team on a 3D stage where players vote for MVP. Blizzard's hero pick gets one bonus vote toward MVP. You can endorse players directly from the stage via hero portraits.

Epic and Legendary voice lines play for MVP-winning heroes — some old ones you haven't heard in years, plus new lines for every hero released since the feature was last active. Heroic Endorsements are back too, letting you endorse players for specific positive traits.

The more experimental piece: Match Voice Chat becomes available during the Post-Match Accolades sequence in Unranked and Competitive Play. Opt-in only — you press a button to join — and it includes the enemy team. Blizzard says it'll be monitored the same way as other voice channels.

Antarctic Peninsula rework

Blizzard has confirmed Antarctic Peninsula has been reworked as part of Season 2. For the specific layout changes, check the in-game patch notes when you load in — the full map-by-map breakdown is in there.

Map voting changes

Several map voting tweaks landed with Season 2:

• New and Reworked map tags: these maps give bonus Battle Pass XP in Quick Play and an automatic +10 Competitive Points in Competitive Play. The loss penalty on these maps is also reduced
• Random Map option added as a 4th choice (and it will never be one of the 3 visible maps)
• Landslide wins: a map with 6+ more votes than any other skips the roll entirely (8 votes ensures a Landslide in 5v5, 9 in 6v6)
• Each map vote will offer at least 2 different game modes across the 3 visible maps
• Attack and Defend icons now show on Hybrid and Escort map cards so you know which side you'll play
• Voting for a map that loses bumps it up in future votes; unvoted losing maps get pushed back

Perks: select perks go into base kits

Blizzard is calling this a "mini refresh" rather than a full overhaul. The short version: perks that had become core to certain heroes' identities are being moved into those heroes' base kits, and new perks plus perk cost adjustments are being introduced to compensate.

Confirmed perk changes from Blizzard's Season 2 blog:

• Ramattra: Prolonged Barrier (new Minor Perk) — Void Barrier duration and size +25%. Vengeful Vortex moved from Perk into the base Ravenous Vortex ability
• Pharah: new Minor Perk — Concussive Blast deals up to 50 explosion damage
• Reaper: Trigger Finger (new Major Perk) — refreshes Dire Triggers cooldown when using an ability and reloading
• Soldier: 76: Agility Training (new Major Perk) — Sprint speed increases by up to 60% after 2 seconds of sprinting
• Mercy: Double Dose (new Major Perk) — Flash Heal gains an additional charge

Heroes with perks being folded into base kits include Mercy (Flash Heal), Reaper (Dire Triggers), and Pharah (Drift Thrusters). The full perk list is in the patch notes.

Hero balance notes worth flagging

There's a lot in the full patch notes — I'm pulling out the changes most players will feel. Check the in-game notes for the complete list:

• Console: Hitscan Auto Assist strength reduced by 4%, targeting its pre-Season 20 values (Legacy Strength Mode unaffected)
• Recon subrole: low-health enemy vision duration 5s → 3.5s
• Roadhog: Scrap Gun reload 1.5s → 1.75s, Chain Hook cooldown 6s → 8s, Invigorate perk removed, new Hogdrogen Exposure perk added
• Ramattra: Ravenous Vortex reworked with Vengeful Vortex functionality baked in, but explosion damage reduced from 50 to 15
• 6v6-specific health cuts for Winston and Wrecking Ball
• Sigma (6v6): Experimental Barrier max HP 650 → 600

Stadium, Mythics, and the rest

Stadium adds Ramattra as a playable hero and a new Lijiang Night Market Control map. Mythic cosmetics this season are Volted Overdrive for Soldier: 76 and the Sumi-ichimonji Mythic weapon skin for Genji.

The Nintendo Switch 2 version of Overwatch is also officially live with this update — download the correct version for your platform from the eShop.

Junkrat's Loot Hunt returns May 8 – 11 with free lootbox challenges. There's also an Emre-only 4v4 mode available in Arcade and Custom Games.

Bottom line

If you're playing tonight, the priorities are simple: try Sierra in Quick Play before queuing ranked, jump into Operation: Grand Mesa to start the Tier 1 and Meta challenges early (Tier 2 is gated behind Tier 1), and check whether any of your mains have had perks shuffled into their base kit — that's where the patch's biggest "how this feels to play" changes live.