Overwatch fans think Season 16 leak “suggests Overwatch 2 name may be retired”

Blizzard is reportedly considering dropping the “2” from its squad-based first-person shooter sequel, Overwatch 2.

A leak purporting to share details of the shooter’s 16th season not only gives us an early peek at what’s coming in the new season – as well as a Gundam collaboration – but also claims Overwatch 2 skins will be renamed “Valorous”, and Overwatch 1 skins as “Classic”, leading some players to believe Blizzard may be about to retire the sequel’s name.

Twitter user SkaVorah, who shared the leaked images, said: “Skin names changed. Overwatch 1 -> Classic. Overwatch 2 -> Valorous.

“Say goodbye to ‘Overwatch 2’, I guess. Looks like they are dropping the ‘2’. This suggests that the overwatch 2 name may be retired.”

The leak is accompanied by a handful of images that purportedly depict Overwatch 2’s S16 main screen, Juno Mythic, new Mythic aspects, and reveal an upcoming collab with Gundam.

As with most leaks, for now, all we can do is chalk this up to a rumour until Activision Blizzard confirms one way or the other. Either way, though, it’s once again got players talking about whether or not live-service games like Overwatch or Destiny should simply keep evolving rather than develop stand-alone “sequels”.

We’ve reached out to Activision for comment and will update as/when we hear back.

Last month we learned that Blizzard is reimplementing loot boxes into Overwatch 2 a little over two years after the team removed them from Overwatch.

Blizzard detailed its plans for what the studio calls “one of Overwatch’s most significant years so far”, including a brief look at Overwatch 2 season 15, which is set to debut later this month, on 18th February. It is this season that will see those aforementioned loot boxes make their return to the hero shooter.