Overwatch officially ditches the “2” from its name after four years

Overwatch 2 is back to just being known as “Overwatch” after spending around four years finding its footing as a F2P sequel.

Back in 2022, Overwatch relaunched as Overwatch 2 with a series of major changes including a switch to 5v5 gameplay, a completely revamped tank role and a promised story campaign that never really materialized.

Originally, Overwatch 2 was meant to be a very different game from its predecessor, with special hero missions, a full-fledged PVE story, tech trees and more elements that pushed it further from its original incarnation.

A lot of that was scrapped or canceled after poor sales, combined with a lack of excitement from the playerbase once the first batch of what was supposed to be many campaign missions dropped to underwhelming fanfare.

Now, after steering the ship back on course and doubling down on improving the base game with new features like Perks, more heroes, modes, and events, the game is removing the two from its names.

Overwatch 2 is back to just being Overwatch

As confirmed during the Spotlight event on February 4 where five new heroes were announced, including the arrival of fan-favorite Jetpack Cat, the developer revealed its new-old name.

According to Blizzard, the big reason for removing the number from the name is because, “Overwatch is more than just a digit.”

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The developer added, “It’s a living universe that keeps growing, keeps surprising, and keeps bringing players together from around the world.”

They further noted that because 2026 will be a huge year and a “turning point” for how the team envisions the future of Overwatch, they opted to move forward as just that… Overwatch. No number needed.

Of course, this likely means that we won’t ever see something like an Overwatch 3, and instead just continue to see the game evolve with monumental updates reverting back to “Season 1” in 2026 with a year-long narrative arc, “The Reign of Talon.”