Hey, everyone! Season 6 is just around the corner, bringing plenty to look forward to—including our next Hero. You already have some clues about his identity, but the OWCS Finals Broadcast will show off his full case file.
We’ll also have a four-week 6v6 Role Queue Competitive mini season, which is the subject of this Director’s Take, launching on Day 1. Before we dive into that mode, let’s look at what we’ve been doing with 6v6.
Talking Team Size
Overwatch has had an on-again, off-again relationship with in-game team size. We originally launched with six-player teams, but later moved to five, primarily to improve queue times and address gameplay issues. Even after 5v5 became the standard, part of the community asked for a return to 6v6 competition. In response, we eventually changed Open Queue to six players per team, and it has remained that way for nearly two years. The mode has steadily grown in popularity and is now the second most-played mode in Season 5, with Mystery Madness close behind!
Something we hear from our community is that many of you playing 6v6 would also like Role Queue to return. We’ve been a little hesitant to bring that feature back to the game because queue times could increase significantly. We ran two tests earlier this year with different queueing methods, but neither really delivered on the promise of what you all were looking for when it comes to Role Queue. We also learned that our audience is very split!
We ran several surveys after those 6v6 tests. As you can see, the preferences are split pretty evenly and many folks engage with both modes. What’s interesting about this data is how strongly people favor their mode of choice. On both sides of this in-game survey, 32% of respondents stood fully behind their mode of choice!
Previously, we thought that we might be able to find one format to transition Overwatch to, but it’s become apparent to us that our community prefers that we run several modes. We’re now starting to use an amusement park analogy for the game. This way, you get to shape your experience.
Why choose between the roller coaster of 5v5 and the bumper car chaos of 6v6 when you can have both? They can coexist alongside more limited-time modes like Mystery Madness, which will be returning in Season 1 2027 with a new theme, new powers, and other exciting enhancements!
As for 6v6, we know you want more than simply keeping it available as it has been. Other than the push for a Role Queue version of 6v6, your other biggest ask has been for dedicated balance improvements for the mode.
When we first swapped Open Queue to 6v6, we made a large set of balance adjustments to fit the mode. As we made balance adjustments each season, these were inherited by 6v6. This mostly worked; many Heroes’ win rates are similar in 6v6, but not all of them. For instance, D.Mon is more effective in 6v6, while Domina is less effective.
For this Competitive mini season, we’re fulfilling your biggest request: an impactful, specific balance patch for 6v6.
The Main Event: 6v6 Competitive Mini Season
There will be three Competitive options of the game available on Day 1 of Season 6: our standard 5v5, Open Queue 6v6, and our Role Queue 6v6 test. The 2-2-2 Role Queue Competitive mini season will start at season launch and run for the first four weeks of the season. We’ll also keep the Open Queue version of 6v6 running and the balance patch will be applied to that mode as well.
As I said earlier, 6v6 has been slowly growing in popularity over the last few years; however, the 5v5 version of Open Queue was popular too. We’d like to learn how many people are playing Open Queue 6v6 for the role flexibility and how many people are playing it for the team size. Running both modes at the same time should produce some good data points to show us where we ought to be putting more energy.
We realize that adding Role Queue 6v6 may have some impact on queue times, both for that mode and other modes. Adding Role Queue 6v6 instead of replacing an existing queue should be better overall for our community. There are also some matchmaking changes shipping with Season 6 that we theorize will keep queue times more manageable. As always, our team will be carefully monitoring those times to ensure everything stays healthy!
Looking Ahead
We always say that we want to make the game you all want to play and it’s obvious that we have folks who want different things. Over the past few years, we’ve realized that there doesn’t have to be a “winner” between 5v5 and 6v6. The real competition should be in your matches, not between two modes that can coexist. You can play either one (many people actually play both!) and we’re going to support that choice.
Currently, we don’t have any intention of moving the main mode of Overwatch to 6v6, but we’re starting to think of it as a second among equals. We’ll put more energy into balance patches for the mode and we’ll continue to look for the right format that really gives our community the experience they’re looking for. Whether that’s Open Queue, Role Queue, a combination of both, or a new format that we’ve yet to try out, we’re here to figure out what works best for you.
One of the things that I hope you take away from this is that we’re always trying to improve Overwatch in ways that matter to you. Just don’t start asking for 7v7!
Thanks for reading, and let’s make a great game!