Overwatch 2 Review: A Great Free Team Shooter That Steam Players Don’t Go Easy On

Overwatch 2 is a free-to-play team shooter from Blizzard Entertainment. Two teams of five fight over points and escort payloads, each player as one of the heroes with their own abilities. The game came out on October 4, 2022, and since February 2026 Blizzard lists it in all stores simply as Overwatch. In this review we tell you what the game does well, where it stumbles and why its score ends up so low.

What Overwatch 2 is about

In the main mode, two teams of five face off: one tank, two damage players and two supports. The tank leads the charge and soaks up damage, Damage heroes take out opponents, and Support heals, shields and boosts allies. There’s also Open Queue 6v6 without fixed roles, Mystery Heroes with a random hero, and the Stadium mode. According to Blizzard there are more than 50 heroes, and since February 2026 each one has a passive based on its sub-role. How to get started is in our beginner’s guide, and all modes in our game modes guide.

Ranked play has a separate rank for each role. In February 2026 Blizzard reset everyone’s ranks, and everyone has to play 10 placement matches per role. Since August 2026 there’s a new Emerald rank between Platinum and Diamond. How ranked works is covered in our ranked guide.

2026: Reign of Talon and a new name

Since February 10, 2026 Blizzard uses just the name Overwatch and has restarted season numbering from one. The very first season added five new heroes at once. The current Season 5: A Grim Doctrine has been running since October 6, 2026, bringing the support hero Doctrine, the first new Escort map since Overwatch 2 launched, and Sombra’s move to the Support role. What’s in the season is in our current season guide.

What critics praise and what bothers players

The PC version has 79 on Metacritic from 60 reviews, almost all from October 2022. Game Informer gave it 90 and describes it as a well-rounded evolution of the experience that doesn’t flip the formula the way you’d expect from a sequel. CGMagazine, at 85, calls it a worthy successor that doesn’t reinvent the wheel but improves on it. PCGamesN gave it 60 and says its PvP feels more like a simple content update than a full-blown sequel. Eurogamer wrote of an aimless-feeling revamp of 2016’s best multiplayer game, slightly coarsened by free-to-play grinding, and PC Invasion of a good game hiding under a predatory shell.

Players on Steam are far harsher. There the game has just 32.1% positive out of 428,409 reviews, which is Mostly Negative. The 5/10 score averages the good critic reception from 2022 with very critical players on Steam.

Platforms, crossplay and Steam Deck

You play Overwatch for free on PC through Steam or Battle.net, on PS5 and PS4, on Xbox, on Switch and, since April 2026, on Switch 2. Blizzard promises crossplay and shared progression: your unlocks and progress are available on every device. It’s online only. On Steam Deck the game is Playable, but with caveats about text legibility and performance at default settings. The details are in our platforms guide.

Price and Battle Pass

The game is free; you only pay for cosmetics and the Battle Pass. On Steam the Ultimate Battle Pass Bundle for Season 5 costs €39.99 and the Starter Pack €9.99. Since Season 4 the Battle Pass has 80 tiers split into shorter tracks, and since Season 5 you can progress in one old Battle Pass alongside the current one. PC requirements are low: the minimum is 6 GB of RAM and a GTX 600 series card; more in our system requirements.

Who Overwatch 2 is for (and who it isn’t)

It’s for you if you want a fast team shooter where teamwork and hero choice matter more than pinpoint aim. It’s free, so you can try it with no risk, and you can play with friends across platforms.

Skip it if monetisation through the Battle Pass and shop bothers you. And if you’re looking for a single-player shooter, you won’t find it here.

Verdict: Is Overwatch 2 worth it?

Definitely worth trying, it’s free. Whether you stick with it depends on how you handle the monetisation and ranked. We’re giving it 5/10.

Critics praise the gameplay, and Blizzard regularly expands the game with new heroes and maps. But players on Steam are very critical, and outlets say the second game is more of a big update than a sequel. Points come off for the player rating and the monetisation.

Playing Overwatch? All our guides are on the Overwatch 2 hub. Start with the beginner’s guide, and our current season guide covers what the latest season brought. You can find teammates on the GamersTogether Discord.

FAQ

This review is based on player ratings on Steam and critic scores on Metacritic, on reviews from Game Informer, CGMagazine, PCGamesN, Eurogamer and PC Invasion, and on official information from Blizzard Entertainment. Information verified on October 21, 2026. All our guides to the game are on the Overwatch 2 hub.