Summer Games and new hero discussed in new Overwatch developer update

Fariha Bhatti Published 11/07/2019

Blizzard has confirmed the next set of upcoming events in its latest developer update. 

Overwatch game director Jeff Kaplan confirmed today on YouTube that the Summer Games will be the next seasonal event to take place and added some further details as to what players can expect from the event. 

One of the first items Kaplan addressed in the video was the update in the schedule for the summer event. In previous years, the Summer Games have always started during the second week of August. According to Jeff, the games will instead be happening much sooner than usual. He did not confirm a specific start date, but with only four weeks until the usual timeslot, an announcement is expected soon.

Further details were also announced with regards to the new Summer Games content. The development team has planned a new way to distribute event skins for this seasonal event and intend to offer three epic skins as a reward rather than a luck-based drop.

Much like the “Baptiste Reunion Challenge” or the “D.Va Nano-Cola Challenge,” each week of Summer Games 2019 will host a challenge with an epic event skin available to unlock upon completion.

In a similar fashion to the event schedule changes, Overwatch players can also expect an update in the hero release schedule over the summer. Fans of the game have wondering when the next hero, which would be the 31st in the game, will be announced. Wrecking Ball, the hero released in the summer of 2018, was brought to live servers in July after three weeks on the PTR. This year however, Kaplan has confirmed that fans will have to wait even longer for a new hero to appear. 

The game director did not specify why the schedule has changed for the hero, but did assure viewers that it would be “worth the wait.” Kaplan also included a small clue for those eager to know who the next character in the Overwatch lineup might be and confirmed that the character will be male. 

With the next seasonal event due to start soon, fans can expect another developer update in the not too distant future. During the video, Jeff even confirmed that he’d kept the length shorter than usual as more updates are planned for just around the corner. 

Fariha Bhatti

About Fariha Bhatti

Fariha Bhatti is a long-time gaming writer who loves competitive FPS games and slots with particularly fun themes. She got her start playing classic games developed by SNK, from legendary fighting game series The King of Fighters to challenging platform franchise Metal Slug. She now spends most of her time playing Valorant and Counter-Strike 2 while working her way through new slot releases to find her next favorite. Fariha has been published at PCGamesN, TalkEsport and ONE Esports.

View full profile

Read Also

GTA

Will will GTA VI be delayed (again)? The prediction markets don’t think so Michael Hassall Grand Theft Auto VI (GTA6) is on track to be one of the important gaming titles not just of 2026, but of this generation. With the game expected to set a new standard in the gaming industry, as well as a new pricing standard, anticipation for what many expect to be a game of the year, is high. The open-world crime action game is slated for release later this year, ...

Twitch

PUBG announces $100,000 Streamer Challenge for PAYDAY mode Khizar Mundia PUBG is hosting a limited-time challenge where streamers can compete in PAYDAY mode for a chance to win a share of the $100,000 prize money. PUBG’s latest gameplay mode is introducing a new direction for the game, as the battle royale will now feature a heist mode. This highlights Krafton's desire to give its players more in terms of varied content. PUBG's collaboration will also feature a tournament where streamers ...

GTA

Even the Bank of America has an opinion on GTA 6’s price Michael Hassall GTA VI might be the most anticipated video game of all time, and dozens of questions are currently swirling about the upcoming release, from gameplay elements like what the story is going to be, to more pressing items like just how much is this game going to cost us? Well, in a recently published Forbes report, Bank of America industry analyst Omar Dessouky stated that the financial institution believed the ...

Slots

Roobet enters the prediction market space with new integrated feature Fariha Bhatti Roobet has become the first major crypto casino to integrate a prediction market directly into its platform. Here’s everything you need to know about how the potentially game-changing Roobet prediction market works. Prediction markets have become a popular alternative for users who find traditional trading too complex. In 2026, major platforms like Polymarket and Kalshi are the two most popular players, though the prediction market has still remained somewhat new ...

News

Shuffle opens FIFA World Cup 2026 hub with exciting promos Fariha Bhatti With a month to go before the 2026 World Cup kicks off, Shuffle is getting ahead of the game with the launch of its very own FIFA World Cup Hub. Shuffle has quickly become the go-to for gamblers looking to play their favorite slots or place bets on the running sports and esports event. The crypto-casino website offers markets for almost every sporting event, along with thousands of online slots ...

Kick

What is Clavicular’s Looksmaxxing and why is everyone talking about it? Fariha Bhatti You’d think Braden "Clavicular" Peters coined the term Looksmaxxing, but long before it went viral, people were already chasing the same idea. Here’s a look at what it means to Looksmaxx. The streaming world has produced its share of viral trends, but Looksmaxxing might be the most significant one to cross over into the mainstream. The term traces its roots back to around 2010, originating in niche online communities. It ...

Slots

This is how Provably Fair casino games work Ian John Crypto casino gaming has evolved what an online casino can offer to its customers and one of the key ways that this has manifested itself is in greater transparency when it comes to fairness and game mechanics. These games are called Provably Fair games and they sit directly at the heart of what this new generation of games has to offer. In the past, players have had to trust whether ...