Overwatch 2 Invasion has been announced officially, and here is everything you need to know about it.

Overwatch 2 Invasion will be the next major update the game will receive, and it was announced officially at Xbox Games Showcase 2023. The update will primarily introduce the closest thing to a story mode via several new story missions, as well as a new support hero, new PvP modes, and plenty more for fans to get stuck into. Players are no doubt eagerly waiting to get the details about Overwatch 2 Invasion, and now that it has been announced, you can find all the details about it just below.

7 August 2023 Update - We've checked for the latest news and leaks relating to Overwatch 2 Invasion update.

Table of Contents

Latest News & Leaks

Just below we'll keep you up to date on all the latest news, leaks, and rumors related to the Overwatch 2 Invasion update:

7 August 2023: Overwatch 2 Invasion balance changes update

Blizzard has announced balance changes coming to Overwatch 2: Invasion update:

• The damage calculation against armor is changed to be additive instead of multiplicative, which will mostly affect Ramattra and Orisa.
• Cassidy’s Magnetic Grenade will have a shorter range, but he will also get more health and less damage falloff. Torbjorn’s primary fire will have a faster fire rate and weapon swap. Soldier:76’s Helix Rocket and Ult will do less damage. Orisa’s Fortify will grant bonus health and her damage falloff will be extended.
• Lifeweaver’s Ult will convert some healing into Overhealth, and he will also get more shields and healing from Rejuvenating Dash. Kiriko’s Protection Suzu will heal less but do more burst healing when cleansing a negative effect, and the knockback will be removed. Mercy’s damage boost will be reduced from 30% to 25%.
• Sombra will have a small change in Season 6 and a larger rework with a new ability in Season 7. Ramattra and Doomfist’s blocks will reduce stuck damage. Bastion’s kit will be changed to make him more fluid.

12 July 2023 - The Invasion Begins!

Following the release of the Mid-Season update, Null Sector forces have now been spotted invading various maps in the game.

Just look up on maps like King's Row, New Queen Street, Paraíso and more to spot the Command ships overhead. 

Ships also spotted on Midtown and Colosseo 👀

— Overwatch Cavalry (@OWCavalry) July 11, 2023

4 July 2023 - No More Story Missions Until 2024

Players best make the most of the story missions coming with the Overwatch 2 Invasion update, because there won't be any more coming in Seasons 7 or 8. So you're probably going to have to wait until 2024 before you get any more.

According to the team, this is so they can use feedback from the Invasion update to help them improve on the next batch of story missions.

To help alleviate concerns, Neuss explained, "There's a bunch of stuff that we wanna do next year that are already in development that will fill the gaps."

🎬 via @emonggtv

— Overwatch Cavalry (@OWCavalry) July 2, 2023

22 June 2023 - Invasion Gameplay Livestream

Blizzard had a live stream about the Invasion game mode that is coming to Overwatch 2 and gave us a lot of information.

20 June 2023 - Invasion Gameplay Livestream Countdown

16 June 2023 - Invasion Gameplay Deep Dive Coming Next Week

Blizzard will reveal plenty more about the upcoming Overwatch 2 Invasion update as part of a deep dive livestream on Twitch.

You'll be able to tune in and find out more from June 21 at 11am PT / 7pm BST.

📅 June 21 @ 11am PT

Join us for a deep dive on Invasion Story Missions, Hero Mastery mode, the new core PvP game mode Flashpoint, and more coming in #Overwatch2: Invasion 👀

Learn More:

— Overwatch (@PlayOverwatch) June 16, 2023

Overwatch 2 Invasion Release Date

Overwatch 2 Invasion will release on August 10, as per the announcement by Blizzard.  This is the biggest update the FPS title has ever received. You can see how long you have to wait until this update launches on the countdown timer, below:

3 days, 02:27:50

Overwatch 2 Invasion Content Overview

Story Missions: The Rise of Null Sector

In the Zero Hour cinematic, we saw the rogue Omnic group, Null Sector, invading Paris, only to be stopped by Winston, Tracer, Mei, and a handful of other heroes. However, The Rise of Null Sector chapter will feature three story missions in which Null Sector starts attacking multiple cities across the globe, such as Rio de Janeiro, Gothenburg and Toronto.

In addition to trying to stop Null Sector forces - including the powerful Annihilators and the deadly Stalkers - players will also have to investigate Null Sector's ulterior motive to kidnap Omnics for an unknown purpose. It’s up to the new Overwatch team to find out what their plans are and put a stop to them, but they’ll need help from past allies and new faces alike if they hope to stand a chance.

Based on what we have seen in the most recent Invasion Reveal live stream, the story takes place almost immediately after the Winston Recall that started Overwatch 1. Canonically, a lot of the characters you play have not met each other. Players will have to face an invasion of enemies that are coming to the maps.

Invasion Gameplay

Because of how Invasion works, Blizzard has developed new maps for Invasion. Rio from the Invasion game mode will not be the same as Invasion from PVP. It seemed that some of the scrapped elements from the talent trees are staying in Invasion. For example, there are bouncy and freeze turrets that you can make. These are created by Torbjorn in Invasion that he could not normally make in PVP. They also said that the Invasion maps are four or five times bigger than normal PVP maps.

A New Support Hero

Overwatch 2 will bring a new support hero, and a glimpse was shared at Xbox Games Showcase 2023. However, the name or abilities of the hero has not been revealed yet. Although, it does seem that they might come from Peru based on the previous leaks and clues we've seen.

New Co-op Missions

You will also be able to participate in the new bonus co-op missions that will take place on Kings Row. You will be able to explore the map along with new areas that are not seen in PvP modes. In these co-op missions, you will be guiding the TS-1 push bot on the mission to save Tracer’s friend and the Omnic Underworld from Null Sector forces.

These are called Event Missions and they are meant to be played after you have completed the Invasion Missions. The developers said that it is a mix of canonical stories and non-canonical stories.

Take part in a bonus co-op mission in #Overwatch2: Invasion 🇬🇧

Explore brand-new areas of King's Row and weaponize TS-1 to save Tracer's friend and the Omnic Underworld from Null Sector!

📰

— Overwatch Cavalry (@OWCavalry) June 11, 2023

Flashpoint PvP Mode

Flashpoint PvP mode will be available in Quick Play or Competitive Play and will feature two new locales, Overwatch 2’s biggest PVP maps till now. The objective in Flashpoint PvP mode will be to take control of key positions called Flashpoints, and the team who captures three Flashpoints first will win. 

Here's what we know about Flashpoint, the new core gamemode in #Overwatch2: Invasion 🕹️

Teams will fight for control of Flashpoints, aiming to capture three of them before the enemy team. There won't be any downtime before the next point is unlocked!

📰

— Overwatch Cavalry (@OWCavalry) June 11, 2023

Hero Mastery Mode

Hero Mastery mode will feature brand new engaging training courses for every hero, and each course will test your skills with the hero's abilities and weapons. This will help you master agents, and in addition to this, there will also be a leaderboard featuring the top Hero Mastery mode players from around the world. During gameplay, there will be unique enemies for heroes to deal with to get better practice with them.

With the release of Invasion, courses for only a few heroes will be available, and more will be added in later updates.

Updated Practice Range

Practice Range will get its first major update with the release of Overwatch 2 Invasion, bringing a brand new firing range featuring a ton of practice settings and multiple targets.

Practice that aim with the Firing Range in #Overwatch2: Invasion 🎯

Heading to the Practice Range, this new area allows you to choose from dozens of practice settings and multiple targets to hit!

📰

— Overwatch Cavalry (@OWCavalry) June 11, 2023

Overwatch 2 Xbox Game Pass Benefits

If you are an Xbox Game Pass subscriber, you will receive extra benefits for playing Overwatch 2 starting from August 10. You will get New Heroes Starter Pack for free that will give you access to Sojourn, Junker Queen, Kiriko, Ramattra, Lifeweaver, and the new support hero. In addition to this, you will also get Legendary Skin for each hero, along with other in-game cosmetics for free. 

Written by Rabia Sayal

Rabia leads the coverage of her first love, VALORANT, and is also a die-hard fan of Genshin Impact’s lore and character designs, though she misses playing retro games like Mario, Roadrash, Need for Speed II, and a lot more. She is currently enjoying Honkai: Star Rail and is eagerly waiting for Minecraft The Wild update. You will also find her playing Fireboy and Watergirl when she is feeling pretty lazy and wants to play It Takes Two once again sometime soon. You can also find her past work on the likes of Gamepur, Sportskeeda, Hard Drive, and more publications. Along with being a gamer, she has done Masters in Mathematics and loves to play with numbers.

Follow me on: