Summary:
- The next season of Overwatch 2 Season 17 called “Powered Up!”, will be launching globally on June 24, 2025.
- There will be a new Flashpoint Map called Aatlis coming in the season.
- Season 17 includes a new Mythic skin for D.Va, as well as a dark, evolving Mythic weapon skin for Reaper.
Overwatch 2 Season 17 is arriving soon, and it’s expected to be one of the most noteworthy patches yet. June 24th will be here before you know it, and you will not want to miss this season full of new features and changes. There is a lot to look out for that will mix up the gameplay and keep the game feeling fresh. Without further ado, let’s jump into everything we have to look forward to in Season 17 and why you won’t want to miss a thing!
Season 17 Launch Details
Overwatch 2 Season 17, otherwise known as “Powered Up!” is starting on June 24, 2025, at 11:00 AM PDT. The long-awaited patch is guaranteed to be packed with new content and new features. Players all over the world can catch a glimpse through the reveal trailer dropping a week before on June 17, 2025, at 9:00 AM PDT. The trailer will give the fans an early look at the season’s theme, new skins, and some other key features.
If you’re an international player looking to dive into Season 17 as soon as it launches, the launch time will translate to the following:
- 2 PM Eastern Time (ET)
- 7 PM British Summer Time (BST)
- 8 PM Central European Summer Time (CEST)
- 9 PM Arabian Standard Time (AST)
Meanwhile, the launch is set as late as early morning on June 25 in Asia-Pacific:
- 1 AM ICT Indochina Time (ICT)
- 3 AM Korea Standard Time (KST)
- 3 AM Japan Standard Time (JST)
- 4 AM Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST)
- 11:30 AM Indian Standard Time (IST)
New Features and Game Mode Updates
Overwatch 2 Season 17 is seriously going to give the Flashpoint game mode an enhancement with a new map, Aatlis. Aatlis is bringing elements from past maps to offer improved navigation around the map, objective fights, and choke points to further enhance Flashpoint as a whole experience. Besides Aatlis, Suravasa and New Junk City are going to have big reworks in the second half of the season.
One of the biggest QoL improvements coming in Season 17 is the addition of Map Voting into the Competitive queue. Teams will now be able to vote on maps before their matches begin. Map Voting brings a new level of agency and strategic decision-making back to players engaged in competitive play. In addition to allowing for player choices, Map Voting allows Blizzard to collect data on map rotations and understand the map’s popularity with players, which will inform future map rotations and updates.
Hero Updates and Balance Changes
Overwatch 2 Season 17 is rolling out a bunch of hero updates and balance changes intended to improve competitive balance. One of the most notable changes is the reduction of Bastion’s size by 10%. This is a one-of-a-kind buff, but it’s intended to improve his survivability by making him a smaller target, and therefore a harder target to hit.
On top of this, they will increase the damage role passive healing reduction from 25% to 30%. This will give damage dealers a stronger deterrent to deal with the large amounts of healing that support heroes are putting out. In addition, the global health regeneration timer will also increase from 5 to 6 seconds.
Besides those general changes, there are a few heroes who will receive slight adjustments to help their roles and battle flow:
- With Junker Queen’s Commanding Shout, allies will prioritize Overhealth over health.
- There will also be quality of life improvements to perks like Pharah’s Helix Shields or Lifeweaver’s Cleansing Grasp.
- The dev team is still on the lookout for a few unique cases like Sombra, which could hint at reworks or adjustments down the road to lower her high ban rate and competitive presence.
Finally, coming to Overwatch 2 Season 17 is a cool new hero trial featuring Aqua, the 44th hero in Overwatch. While Aqua will not be fully launching until Season 18, players will be able to try him out during the playtest weekend late into Overwatch 2 Season 17.
Theme and Cosmetic Highlights
The highlight of this season’s cosmetic collection is the Mythic skin for D.Va, inspired by a white tiger. As you can imagine, a white tiger skin gives D.Va a dramatic look with its customizable pilot hairstyles, along with a cultural flavor that we could see replicated with other skins. Making the whole thing even cooler is Reaper’s Mythic weapon, a dual weapon that looks dark and demonic-themed. It will visually evolve with his story of decay that adds a gritty, almost lore-driven feel to the season’s offerings.
Conclusion
Overwatch 2 Season 17 is coming soon! With a brand new season comes a brand new feel of excitement, something that will present unique challenges for you. New seasons are great because they bring a ton of surprises that keep the gameplay fresh and exciting for you. So now is the ideal time to jump back in to see how the meta changes with all new flavors ahead.
