While the 2-2-2 has just been announced for the Overwatch League, Blizzard has confirmed through Jeff Kaplan in its Developer Update that it will also be implemented on Live servers.
Already testable on the PTR, with the latest patch, Role Queue will allow all players to choose their role before the match begins. Each of the roles will have its own waiting system. Blizzard hopes that with this addition, the games will be of a higher quality, and will allow players to have more control over their own gaming experience.
It will be available on live servers with 1.39 patch which will offer a short Beta season to test this new way of playing Overwatch. It will take place from August 13 to September 1. Moreover, the competitive season 17 will be shortened by approximately two weeks to allow adaptation to the Role Queue.
The arrival of the role queue was a high priority for the Overwatch teams who had been working on it for over a year, before finally being able to officially release it. The ranking system being very different from the old one, the comparison between old skill ratings and new ones would not be really effective — especially since it will surely take a while for the ratings to adjust as well as possible for everyone. Many changes are expected to take place throughout the test phase and Blizzard hopes to get as much feedback from the community as possible.
Change in competitive mode
As soon as the role queue arrives on the servers, players will have a different SR according to each role, for a total of 3 different SRs. You can be a Diamond as DPS, a Platinum as Tank and finally a Master as Support. Matchmaking will adapt to the SR of the type of hero you have selected. In addition, for the less frequent roles taken by players, a reward system will be set up to make them more attractive, thanks to lootboxes for example.
Placement matches
Once the role queue in game, players will have to complete 5 placement matches on the selected role to get their rank in each competitive season, i.e. a minimum of 15 matches.
Rewards
As in every season, all those who have completed their placement matches will receive a spray and a player icon. You will only need to do your placement matches on one single role to receive them. However, you will receive competitive points (to buy gold weapons) for your ranking in each role. To balance things out, Blizzard has slightly modified the values you will receive for each.
Top 500
The best players will now be separated into four standings, one for each role, plus one which is an average of their level over the three roles. To be included in the leader board, you must have completed at least 25 parts in a specific role, instead of 50 before. To be eligible in the combined standing, you must be eligible in each of the other tables. Players who finish Top 500 in one of the four standings will receive a spray and an animated icon.
A screenshot of the new update had already revealed the identity of the new hero in Overwatch, but with the release of a short video we were able to learn a little more about this new character. His name should be Sigma, and he will be the much-anticipated 31st hero.
