by Eric Law
Overwatch 2 is reverting Competitive Stadium back to its original seven-round format starting October 30. This change is being done in response to negative fan feedback to changes Overwatch 2 implemented with the launch of Season 19.
Stadium is the newest permanent game mode in Overwatch 2 featuring special Powers, Items, and Gadgets that can be selected between rounds to modify the builds of select heroes in wild and exciting ways. Originally, Stadium was a best-of-seven game mode, though Overwatch 2 changed it to be best of five starting in Season 19 to prevent matches from becoming a slog.
Overwatch 2 Competitive Stadium Going Back to Best of Seven
Now, Overwatch 2 has announced its intention to revert this change. In a thread on Twitter, Overwatch 2 game director Aaron Keller confirmed Competitive Stadium would be going back to seven rounds starting October 30. Players can expect a brief one-hour outage for Ranked Stadium while the change is implemented, but they will otherwise be able to play the game as usual.
Best of 7 adds more room for strategy, comebacks, and team adaptation, while making matches feel less snowbally overall. If you liked the quicker Best of 5 format, you can still jump into Quick Play Stadium to experience it there.— Aaron Keller (@aaronkellerOW) October 29, 2025
According to Keller, this reversion is being done because the best-of-five format “hasn’t felt quite right.” Those two extra potential rounds provide more wiggle room for adaptive strategies and big comebacks that will help make games feel less one-sided, even if they are longer because of it. Fans can expect a deeper dive into the reasoning behind this decision in the next Director’s Take blog in early November.
While some players preferred the five-round format, the majority of fans seem to be happy to see this change being made, especially with Overwatch 2 Stadium Gadgets now in the mix. Luckily, those who want to play best-of-five Stadium can still do so in Unranked Quick Play, which also includes backfill and cross-play between all platforms.
Read the full article on GameRant
This article originally appeared on GameRant and is republished here with permission.
