Get ready to sharpen your skills and perfect your strategies—Season 12 of Competitive Play has begun!

Unlocked at level 25, Competitive Play is designed for those players who want to put their skills to the test, and offers a more serious experience than our Quick Play or Arcade Modes.

To begin your competitive journey this season, click on the “Play” button, select “Competitive Play” from the submenu, and you’re ready to enter a match. You can join on your own or in a group, and Overwatch’s matchmaking system will automatically find the best game possible for your skill level.

Before you can kick off your competitive career, every player must first complete 10 placement matches to obtain their initial skill rating. This rating will be a number between 1 and 5000, with higher values indicating a greater skill level. Players will also be assigned a tier based on their rating—Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Master, or Grandmaster—and climbing into the next tier is possible as you improve.

Skill ratings and tier icons will be visible at the beginning of every match. As you compete, your rating will increase or decrease with each win or loss based on a number of factors, including your own performance and the skill of the other players in the match.

A detailed breakdown of the skill tiers, along with icons and information about the corresponding skill ratings can be found by pressing the “Information” button under the Competitive Play menu.

In addition to experiencing the thrill of victory, players can also unlock unique rewards through Competitive Play. Anyone who completes their placement matches during a season will receive a special spray and player icon. If you are placed within the Top 500 players on your platform (and in your region) at the end of the season, you’ll receive an extra player icon and animated spray.

On top of that, as you complete competitive matches, you’ll earn a currency called Competitive Points. When the season concludes, you’ll also receive a number of those points (based on your overall performance) to spend on golden versions of your favorite heroes’ weapons.

Avoid as Teammate Update

Starting now, we’ll increase the Avoid as Teammate slots from two to three spots. As promised when the feature was implemented, we have been watching to see the effect Avoid as Teammate has on gameplay and queue times. After reading feedback and deciphering data, we think adding a slot will help players enjoy their Overwatch experience while keeping queue times reasonable. When you add a player to your Avoid as Teammate list, you will not be grouped with that player for seven days.

Create Your Competitive Play Dream Team

Get ready to climb the ladder and battle your way to the top of the charts by using Looking for Group to create your dream team. Customize your group settings to ensure you find other like-minded players whose sights are set on grinding out points to get into the top tier (or just to have fun). Filters include specifying roles, Skill Rating, endorsement level, and more.

Wrecking Ball Rolls Into The Lineup

Our newest tank hero, Wrecking Ball, rolls Competitive Play for his first full season. Wrecking Ball provides disruption while also being an aggressive bruiser that bullies the enemy’s backline, eliminating vulnerable heroes that are left unguarded.

ABILITIES Quad Cannons Automatic assault weapons. Minefield Deploy a massive fields of proximity mines. Grappling Claw Launch a grappling claw to rapidly swing around the area. Enables high speed collisions to damage and knockback enemies. Roll Transform into a ball and increase maximum movement speed. Piledriver Slam into the ground below to damage and launch enemies upward. Adaptive Shield Create temporary personal shields. Amount increases with more enemies nearby.



Season 12 is live RIGHT NOW on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, so power up your favorite gaming machine and join the fight. We’ll see you on the battlefield!