Overwatch Season 1: Rise of Talon is now live. Find out what the patch notes reveal here, spanning event details, hero updates, and more.
Overwatch Patch Notes Unveil Season 1: Rise of Talon Details
Overwatch vs Talon
Overwatch Season 1: Rise of Talon is officially live, introducing a major overhaul ahead of the original title's 10th anniversary in May. From dropping the "2" in its title to witnessing a spike in Steam player count that surpassed Call of Duty: Black Ops 7's 24-hour peak, the recent rebranding has been making rounds in the gaming scene. Now kicking off the year-long, six-season narrative arc dubbed "The Reign of Talon," Season 1 suggests that developer Blizzard is not slowing down anytime soon.
The season draws players into the conflict between Overwatch and the escalating terrorist threat, Talon, with five new heroes joining the fray. Domina (Tank), Emre (Damage), and Mizuki (Support) ally themselves with Talon, whereas new characters Anran (Damage) and Jetpack Cat (Support) side with Overwatch.
In the Season 1 "Conquest Event," players engage in a five-week competition, and they are given the freedom to switch up or stay with their team every week as they carry out challenges and earn rewards. The game will tally completed global passes and declare the ultimate winning faction. Obtainable rewards throughout the event are the following:
⚫︎ 75 Base Lootboxes
⚫︎ 12 Epic Lootboxes
⚫︎ 7 Legendary Lootboxes
⚫︎ 9 New Voice Lines
⚫︎ 31 Player Icons, Titles, Sprays, and Namecards
⚫︎ 2 Weapon Charms
⚫︎ 1 of 2 faction-themed Legendary Echo skins
⚫︎ Exclusive Legendary titles (and a secret hidden one)
Aside from additional characters, the update balances the existing hero lineup as well. With sub-roles now integrated into the gameplay—Tank divided into Initiator, Bruiser, and Stalwart; Damage split into Specialist, Recon, Flanker, and Sharpshooter; and Support partitioned into Tactician, Medic, and Survivor—overlapping perks and functionality push Blizzard to restructure heroes.
A variety of adjustments cover statistics and perk changes optimized for specific heroes. The base statistics, perks, or abilities for several heroes have been nerfed, while certain perks have also been removed for many heroes. Meanwhile, others received a boost to their perks and abilities, and new perks have been granted to 18 heroes.
Other Updates
To remain consistent with the current Talon narrative, certain map changes now reflect war and Talon's reign. Watchpoint: Gibraltar exhibits a destroyed bridge, a widened server room opening, a dangling dropship, and piles of rubble, among other layout tweaks. Italy maps in Rialto and Colosseo also replaced banners, turrets, and other structures to signify that they are under Talon's rule.
General and core game updates are part and parcel of the newly launched revamp. These cover Comms and Ping changes for Praise without the need for voice chat, improved functionality for contextual voice lines—one of which is "Heroes can aim at an allied Jetpack Cat and ping her to request a pickup at their location with a voice line"—and bug fixes for the Ping System.
As for Competitive Play, according to the patch notes, they have ensured "that only the highest-ranked players benefit from" rewards. Moreover, the "unnecessarily high" 750 win requirement has been amended to 250 wins to make it to the Top 500 Challenger leaderboard.
Non-Talon Collabs and Events Continue
There are also other events outside of Conquest welcoming players this February. A Lunar New Year event returns with Roadhog's Catch-a-mari, promising a variety of Lunar New Year-themed cosmetic items. The game mode runs from February 13 to March 2.
Meanwhile, a February 10 collaboration with Hello Kitty and Friends reimagines Sanrio characters Hello Kitty, Kuromi, Cinnamoroll, My Melody, Pompompurin, and Keroppi in the world of Overwatch, alongside similarly themed cosmetics and UI. The crossover will last until February 23.
Formerly named Overwatch 2 as a sequel to the 2016 multiplayer shooter Overwatch, the 2022 game was panned by players due to controversial monetization implementation and Blizzard not following through with PvE. The developers have now removed the "2" in its name, pledging continued support for the current title without replacing it with an Overwatch 3.
Overwatch is currently available on Switch, PS5, PS4, PC, and Xbox Series X|S. To know more information about the game, check out our article below.
Source:
Overwatch Retail Patch Notes - February 10, 2026
