Blizzard Entertainment has unveiled its Overwatch 2 Stadium roadmap for 2025, detailing the exciting heroes and features set to be added in Season 17, Season 18, Season 19, and beyond.

The team behind the groundbreaking hero shooter provided a deep dive into the new mode's past, present, and future through a Director’s Take blog post by game director Aaron Keller. This post includes a surprise summer roadmap following the mode's launch just over a week ago, while also offering insights into its origins and performance.

The Stadium rollout will continue with the addition of the new Damage hero, Freja, in a mid-season patch for Season 16. However, it's Season 17 in June that promises a significant expansion. Junkrat, Sigma, and Zenyatta will join the mode, alongside the new Esperança Push map and Samoa Control map.

Blizzard plans to enhance the Stadium experience during this period by introducing features like Unranked Crossplay, new all-star rewards, custom games, additional example builds, and the ability to save and share builds. It remains to be seen whether all these heroes and features will be available at the start of Season 17 or rolled out throughout the season.

Season 18 will see the addition of Overwatch's beloved gorilla hero, Winston, along with Sojourn and Brigitte. The Route 66 and London maps will also be introduced, accompanied by a new Payload Race game mode, two new maps, a Stadium trials feature, and the option to Endorse teammates.

Blizzard's commitment to Stadium's development includes the promise of "multiple new heroes" each season, drawn from both the existing Overwatch 2 roster and new characters. For Season 19 and beyond, a new China map is planned, along with a Draft Mode feature, consumables, and item system enhancements.

Overwatch 2 Stadium summer 2025 roadmap. Image courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment.

How has Stadium Performed so Far?

The Overwatch 2 team has shared impressive Stadium statistics, showing that it has quickly become the most played mode, surpassing Quick Play and Competitive. During its launch week, Stadium saw 2.3 million matches played over 7.8 million hours. This performance significantly outpaces the launch week stats of Overwatch Classic.

Notable stats include Lucio being the hero with the highest win rate yet the lowest pick rate, and players spending 900 billion Stadium Cash on 206 million item selections for their builds.

In his Director’s Take, Keller confirmed that Stadium was in development before Overwatch 2's launch, dispelling rumors that it was a response to Marvel Rivals, which debuted in December 2024.

Keller emphasized Blizzard's ongoing commitment to transparency and promised more insights into Stadium in the coming week. He also reassured players that Blizzard remains dedicated to maintaining core experiences like Quick Play and Competitive, stating, "Stadium isn't competing for those resources: it’s giving us more opportunities to deliver Overwatch in a new, exciting way."

He concluded with enthusiasm for Season 18, calling it a "banger," and encouraged players to enjoy Stadium while looking forward to future updates.

Overwatch 2 introduced Stadium with the launch of Season 16 last week, as part of Blizzard's broader effort to revitalize its player base. This initiative began with an all-encompassing Spotlight presentation in February, leading to the reintroduction of loot boxes and an improved Steam rating, with many players feeling that this is the best Overwatch experience in years.

While awaiting further updates, players can explore our guide on how Stadium works and check out our recommendations for the best Tank Builds, DPS Builds, and Support Builds.