Blizzard initially struggled to define a clear direction for Overwatch 2. When the sequel arrived in 2022, players were promised a substantial PvE component and significant hero-kit changes that never materialized. The transition from 6v6 to 5v5 introduced persistent balance problems that effectively blurred role distinctions and required multiple seasons of reworks to address.
After several false starts, the studio seems to have settled on a new, more successful approach. The current design philosophy leans toward lighter-handed systems that emphasize player agency and explore what associate director Alec Dawson called the game’s “hero fantasy” during a recent media roundtable. Season 19’s Haunted Masquerade is the most visible expression of that approach so far and a hint at where the team is headed.
In Haunted Masquerade, players equip masks themed after other heroes, which grant passive bonuses and unique perks. Certain mask pairings unlock powerful synergies — for example, Brigitte paired with Reinhardt can deploy a formidable shield, while Winston wearing Tracer’s mask gains access to Recall, creating fresh tactical ways to use his bubble.
Image: Blizzard Entertainment“There’s a really large incentive to experiment and actually try new abilities and try different heroes, maybe [more] than you normally would in your normal play,” Dawson says.
The event marks a departure from past Halloween additions, which tended to constrain hero changes to a few scripted mutations. Junkenstein’s Lab, for instance, gives each hero a limited set of altered skills; Haunted Masquerade hands every playable character a mask, creating 22 distinct pairings and countless emergent interactions that the team hadn’t fully predicted.
Twenty-two options might sound modest, but lead designer Kirill Perekrest notes that ensuring those combinations behaved correctly required weeks of testing. Granting players that level of flexibility represents a deliberate shift from the heavier-handed design that characterized Overwatch 2 before 2025.
“There was a big push this year for player choice, [and] a lot of the things we’ve been building are very much about your hero and your decisions,” Dawson says. “We were really looking for systems that could sit on top of Overwatch that weren’t too heavy and allowed you to have some variability from game to game, but let you stay flexible with your hero.”
The move toward player-driven variety began with perks that alter parts of a hero’s kit as matches progress. That expanded into Stadium mode, which adds dozens of modifiers that change how abilities behave, and into more dynamic Flashpoint maps that let teams select attack routes and engagement points. Some modifiers unlock only after achieving in-game milestones, creating even more permutations depending on performance.
The reaction to these lighter systems has been encouraging. Dawson says the team is already exploring ways to deepen hero evolution beyond the current perks—potentially offering more radical play-style branches for individual characters.
“There’s a lot of hero fantasy that we want to explore within even each hero’s kit, and we’re not done yet,” he adds.
Image: Blizzard EntertainmentEvents such as Haunted Masquerade — and the player responses they generate — serve as practical experiments for the team, helping them decide which mechanics should become permanent. The event emphasizes team-aware choices and nudges players toward experimentation rather than sticking to a single favorite because it looks appealing. If a team is assembling a dive composition, for example, the designers want players to recognize when a different pick would better support that strategy.
One modest change this year already nudges that behavior: showing each player’s top three heroes to teammates. Blizzard is exploring ways to make recommendations even clearer. Haunted Masquerade includes conspicuous cues in the selection menu that encourage synergistic pairings, while the studio also considers subtler options for long-term use, like a dedicated “recommended heroes” feature.
Haunted Masquerade takes place during the first half of Overwatch 2 Season 19 and is available now on console and PC.
Source: Polygon
