Overwatch Adds a 6v6 Role Queue Competitive Mode for the First Four Weeks of Season 6

Blizzard is adding a 6v6 Role Queue mode to Overwatch Competitive play. The mode launches on the first day of Season 6 as a four week Competitive mini season with a 2-2-2 role setup: two tanks, two damage heroes, and two supports per team. Game director Aaron Keller announced the change in a Director's Take blog post.

The mini season comes with a balance patch made specifically for 6v6, which Keller calls the community's biggest request for the mode after Role Queue itself.

Three Competitive Modes in Overwatch Season 6

Overwatch launched with six player teams and later moved to five, mainly to improve queue times and fix gameplay problems. Open Queue switched back to 6v6 nearly two years ago and became the second most played mode in Season 5. On day one of Season 6, Competitive offers:

• standard 5v5 Role Queue, which stays the main mode
• Open Queue 6v6, which also gets the new 6v6 balance patch
• the new 6v6 Role Queue test, running for the first four weeks of the season

Blizzard says it keeps Open Queue 6v6 running alongside the test to learn whether players choose it for the role flexibility or for the team size. Two earlier 6v6 tests this year used different queue methods and did not deliver what players wanted, according to Keller.

Queue Times and the Future of 6v6

Role Queue 6v6 needs two tanks per team, which has historically made queues longer. Blizzard says Season 6 ships with matchmaking changes that it expects to keep queue times manageable, and that the team will monitor queue times across all modes.

Blizzard's surveys showed players split almost evenly between the two formats, and 32 percent of respondents on each side backed their preferred mode fully. The 6v6 balance patch addresses heroes whose strength differs between the formats. Keller names D.Mon as more effective in 6v6 and Domina as less effective.

Keller says Blizzard has no plans to move the main mode of Overwatch to 6v6. "We're starting to think of it as a second among equals," he writes, adding that the team will put more work into balance patches for the mode. Limited time modes continue alongside both formats, and Mystery Madness returns in Season 1 2027 with a new theme and new powers.

Players who want to try the mode should queue for it during the first four weeks of Season 6, since the test ends after that. Results from the mini season will decide whether Role Queue 6v6 returns. Season 6 also brings a new hero, whose full reveal is planned for the OWCS Finals broadcast.

Blizzard has not announced the start date of Season 6 in the post or said whether 6v6 Role Queue will return after the mini season ends.