Image: Blizzard Entertainment
The latest addition to Overwatch 2’s roster was a long time coming, after years of fan theories and in-game teases.
BlizzCon 2023 revealed Overwatch 2’s latest Tank hero: an old friend of Baptiste’s named Mauga. The Samoan hero will be a playable character in Season 8 when it launches this December, but he’ll also be playable for a limited time this weekend in Season 7 before he disappears.
Here’s Mauga’s gameplay trailer:
What can Mauga do?
Mauga’s kit revolves around laying down pressure on the enemy team, and he certainly has the power for it. His main weapons are two powerful chainguns that can be fired individually or in unison, with each gun having unique effects in battle. His incendiary chaingun ‘Gunny’ burns enemies after hitting them for enough damage, while his volatile chaingun Cha-Cha finishes them off with a critical hit.
Mauga’s Berserker Passive also gives him temporary health whenever he doles out critical damage, which makes scoring headshots fairly important for this hero. He also has a Reinhardt Charge-like ability called Overrun, which allows him to stomp into opponents for a powerful knockback undeterred by any crowd control abilities. He can also use Cardiac Overdrive to create an aura that reduces incoming damage for allies while healing them.
His ultimate ability is called Cage Fight, and it traps all nearby opponents in a cylindrical fighting ring that blocks incoming enemy damage and healing. Opponents trapped inside will have to face down Mauga’s infinite ammo and abilities face-to-face.
Overwatch 2's upcoming 2024 content: new PvP mode, seasonal themes and heroes
We also got reveals for upcoming 2024 content for Overwatch 2, kicking off with the reintroduction of a familiar map that’s been missing in this sequel for a long time: Hanamura. The Shimada Clan’s home is being renamed Hanaoka to fit its overhaul, as the map gets slotted into the rotation for a new game mode called Clash. Clash will feature five Capture Points, where players compete across the map to either score all five points or reach the maximum score within the time limit. While this wasn’t specified, it’s likely that Clash is meant to replace Assault from the base game, to include reworks of other missing maps like Horizon Lunar Colony.
Overwatch 2’s Competitive Mode is finally getting a rework in 2024, introducing all-new rewards beyond the usual Competitive Points and stickers we’ve been getting for years now. Hopefully, that means we’ll get more for playing than a few golden guns. Upcoming seasonal themes for 2024 were also revealed, ranging from witches and Eldritch horror to Egyptian Mythology and a mirror universe where heroes are villains and vice-versa.
We also got a sneak peek at two upcoming heroes for the game: a Damage and Support hero, codenamed ‘Venture’ and ‘Space Ranger’. Here’s Venture:
And here’s Space Ranger:
A third hero is in the works for 2024, but we didn’t get a sneak peek at their design today.