The Season 5 update for Overwatch 2 accidentally adds in an experimental change that wasn't intended to go to public servers, but Blizzard isn't planning to change it. After weeks of teases, Blizzard launched a fantasy-inspired season into Overwatch 2 including a new Battle Pass which features an evolving mythic skin for Tracer. Players can also get their hands on new cosmetic skins as well, both through the free and premium tracks of the battle pass including Demon Lord Reinhardt, Slime Queen Echo and Rogue Kiriko to name a few. As with every season, Blizzard also made some changes to character balancing in Overwatch 2 Season 5. Instead of adding a brand-new character to the roster, characters like Roadhog and Lifeweaver received a number of buffs, Mei and Cassidy go their crowd control ability tweaked, while Junker Queen, Widowmaker, and Hanzo were on the other side of things and got a few nerfs. However, the cyborg ninja Genji actually got an accidental buff that surprised both Blizzard and fans alike. Following the Season 5 update in Overwatch 2, fans noticed that Genji's total ammo was now set to 30. Naturally, more ammo means reloading less so Genji can instead focus on pressuring and damaging the enemy team to increase his ultimate meter faster. As videos began to surface online, Blizzard's Lead Hero Designer, Alec Dawson, took notice and actually provided an explanation for why this happened and surprised many by his admission as to what Blizzard plans to do about it.
Behind the scenes, developers at Blizzard were experimenting with other potential Genji changes prior to the launch of Overwatch 2 Season 5. While the ammo increase was part of that change, it appears that it was accidentally left in and not reverted like the other Genji tweaks. However, Dawson went on to confirm that Blizzard plans to keep the increased ammo as is and won't revert it in a future patch.
While Genji is likely to see an uptick in usage, one element that fans have been patiently waiting for has finally returned in Season 5. The On Fire mechanic from the original Overwatch is finally back, though for this new version, Blizzard has added a couple of new features to make it more engaging, including new sound effects and animations. For those who are On Fire, there's a higher level called Blazing, which decreases at a much faster rate and requires outstanding play to stay in effect.
Overwatch 2 is available now for Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
