Overwatch Brings Back 6v6 Role Queue for a Four-Week Competitive Mini Season in Season 6
Season 6 of Overwatch adds a four-week 2-2-2 Role Queue 6v6 Competitive mini season with its own balance patch. 5v5 stays the main mode. What's changing.
Image: Blizzard EntertainmentOverwatch is bringing back 6v6 Role Queue. From Day 1 of Season 6, Competitive will have three options: standard 5v5, Open Queue 6v6, and a 2-2-2 Role Queue 6v6 mini season that runs for the season's first four weeks, Blizzard writes in its latest Director's Take. It comes with the first balance patch made specifically for 6v6.
Blizzard hasn't given the Season 6 date in the post, but says the season brings a new hero, who will be fully revealed during the OWCS Finals broadcast.
Why now
Open Queue switched to six players per team nearly two years ago and is now the second most-played mode in Season 5, according to Blizzard, with Mystery Madness close behind. The two most common requests from 6v6 players were Role Queue and balance made for the mode. Two Role Queue tests earlier this year didn't deliver what players wanted, and surveys afterwards split almost evenly between 5v5 and 6v6, with 32% of respondents on each side fully behind their mode.
The 6v6 balance patch
Until now, 6v6 inherited each season's balance changes. Blizzard says that mostly worked, but not for every hero: D.Mon is more effective in 6v6, while Domina is less effective. The new patch targets 6v6 specifically and applies to both Role Queue and Open Queue 6v6.
Queue times and what comes next
Blizzard expects the extra queue to affect wait times for it and other modes, but says adding Role Queue 6v6 rather than replacing a mode should be better overall, and that matchmaking changes in Season 6 should help. Running both 6v6 versions at once is meant to show whether players choose Open Queue 6v6 for the team size or for the role flexibility.
There's no plan to move Overwatch's main mode to 6v6. Blizzard now calls it "a second among equals" and says it will put more effort into balancing it. Mystery Madness returns in Season 1 of 2027 with a new theme and new powers. For the current season, see our Season 5 midseason guide.
