Overwatch will run a four-week 6v6 Role Queue Competitive test from the first day of Season 6, Blizzard says. Game Director Aaron Keller laid out the plan in a Director’s Take: the 2-2-2 mini season will sit alongside standard 5v5 and the existing Open Queue 6v6, not replace either. VGC reports that Season 6 starts on December 8; Blizzard’s post itself only says the season is “just around the corner”.
Table of Contents
What changes in Season 6
- Three Competitive options on Day 1: 5v5, Open Queue 6v6 and the Role Queue 6v6 test, per Blizzard.
- Role Queue 6v6 is a mini season: it starts at season launch and runs for the first four weeks.
- 2-2-2 means two players per role: two tanks, two damage and two supports a side. Standard 5v5 uses 1-2-2.
- A dedicated 6v6 balance patch ships for the season, and it applies to Open Queue 6v6 as well as the test.
- Matchmaking changes also ship with Season 6, which Blizzard hopes will keep queue times manageable.
Blizzard's in-game survey on 1-2-2 versus 2-2-2: players are split almost evenly. Image: Blizzard Entertainment
How the 2-2-2 Role Queue test works
In Role Queue, you pick tank, damage or support before you queue, and the match builds teams with two of each. Blizzard says that is what many 6v6 players have asked for since Open Queue became six players a side almost two years ago. Open Queue 6v6 stays, and Keller says the two will be compared: Blizzard wants to learn how many people play Open Queue 6v6 for the role flexibility and how many play it for the team size.
Keller says 6v6 is now the second most-played mode in Season 5, with Mystery Madness close behind. Blizzard ran two earlier Role Queue tests this year with different queueing methods; the post says neither delivered what players wanted.
The balance patch matters too. Blizzard made a large set of adjustments when Open Queue went 6v6, and each season’s balance changes have been inherited by the mode since. Results are uneven: Keller names D.Mon as more effective in 6v6 and Domina as less effective. The post does not list the new changes.
AI-generated illustration of a 2-2-2 team layout: two tanks, two damage, two supports
What it means for queue times
Queue time is the reason Blizzard held back. Keller says the team hesitated to bring Role Queue back because waits “could increase significantly”. Blizzard now acknowledges the test may affect queue times “both for that mode and other modes”, but argues that adding a queue is better overall than replacing one. It says it will monitor the times closely. Splitting players across three Competitive queues is the obvious risk, and no wait-time figures have been published.
The survey data explains why Blizzard went for both: its in-game survey chart is split almost evenly, with 32% strongly preferring 5v5 1-2-2 and 32% strongly preferring 6v6 2-2-2. Keller calls 6v6 “a second among equals” and says Blizzard currently has no intention of making it the main mode.
What’s still unknown
- The start time of Season 6 in each region. Blizzard’s post gives no date; December 8 is VGC’s reporting.
- What the 6v6 balance patch changes, hero by hero.
- How long queues will be, and what the “matchmaking changes” are.
- What happens after week four: Keller points to Open Queue, Role Queue, “a combination of both” or a new format, without picking one.
- Whether the mini season has its own ranks or rewards. The post does not say.
Also in the post: Season 6 brings a new hero, with a full case file due at the OWCS Finals broadcast, and Mystery Madness returns in Season 1 2027. For the current season’s free rewards, see our Overwatch free rewards guide. Another hero shooter heading into a new season is covered in our Marvel Rivals Season 11 release date post, and more stories are on the Gaming News Today live page.
What’s next
Watch Blizzard’s season announcement for the exact start time and the 6v6 patch notes, then the first week of queue times. Blizzard says running Open Queue and Role Queue 6v6 side by side should show it where to put more energy.
Sources: Blizzard Entertainment, Director’s Take: 5v5 and 6v6, Better Together; VGC.
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Featured image: Blizzard Entertainment
