Overwatch 2 Season 16 is coming, and Blizzard is adding a new competitive game mode to spice things up. Overwatch 2’s Stadium Mode focuses on strategy and round-based gameplay. If you want to be ahead of the crowd when Season 16 releases, here’s how to play Stadium Mode in Overwatch 2. 

What is Overwatch 2’s Stadium?

Stadium is a new seven-round game mode in which players are divided into two teams of five. The unique aspect of the game mode is that players can purchase items and powers to upgrade their heroes in first-person or third-person. 

All Available Heroes in the Stadium 

Here are all the available Heroes at the Stadium’s launch. More heroes will be added in later updates and during the game’s seasons. 

Tank 

• Va
• Junker Queen
• Orisa
• Reinhardt
• Zarya

Damage 

• Ashe
• Cassidy
• Genji
• Mei
• Reaper
• Soldier: 76

Support 

• Ana
• Juno
• Kiriko
• Lucio
• Mercy
• Moira

All Available Game Modes

Under Stadium, three core game modes will be available to play: Clash, Control, and Push. The game modes will be modified to fit Stadium’s gameplay.

• Clash will focus on three objective points, and the team that takes 2 of the objective points wins.
• Control will only play one round, and the capture progress will be significantly faster.
• Push will have smaller modified maps that are half the size of the regular Push game mode.

Earn Stadium Cash 

Stadium introduces a new currency, Stadium Cash. It’s earned each round, and how much players earn is based on their performance. Stadium Cash can buy Items and Power to upgrade your Hero in the following rounds. 

Upgrade Your Heroes 

Before each round, players will have access to the Armory, where they can use their Stadium Cash to buy Items and Powers for their heroes. Here are all the items players can equip in the Armory. 

• Items are power-ups that support the Hero’s weapons and abilities. Items come in three rarities: Common, Rare, and Epic. Every Hero can equip all items, but there will be ones exclusive to certain heroes.
• Powers are modifiers that give the Hero unique passives, upgrades, or new abilities. Powers won’t cost any Stadium Cash, but you can’t change or remove it once you equip one.

Since Stadium is a new game mode, players may not have ideas about which Items and Powers to use during the match. Luckily, the game will provide example builds to help players. 

Rank Up in Stadium Mode 

The Stadium will feature exclusive rewards in Competitive Play. It’ll include Epic Skins for specific Heroes every season once they reach Elite Rank. Players can also earn Competitive Points to unlock weapon variants. 

Here are all the Stadium Ranks in the game 

• Rookie
• Novice
• Contender
• Elite
• Pro
• All-Star
• Legend

Overwatch 2 Release Date

Stadium Mode will be available on April 22 alongside the launch of Season 16. So, if you’re excited about Stadium, head on to the game and invite some friends to join you and prepare for a new competitive experience.