{"id":2063,"date":"2025-08-22T01:29:39","date_gmt":"2025-08-22T01:29:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ballpeenhammer.com\/?p=2063"},"modified":"2025-09-17T15:16:23","modified_gmt":"2025-09-17T15:16:23","slug":"overwatch-2-announces-persona-crossover-with-season-18","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.ballpeenhammer.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/22\/overwatch-2-announces-persona-crossover-with-season-18\/","title":{"rendered":"Overwatch 2 announces Persona crossover with Season 18"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" alt=\"Image of Joker from Persona\" class=\"wp-image-203134 lazyload\" data-src=\"http:\/\/www.ballpeenhammer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Season-18_-Stadium-Quick-Play-Official-Trailer-_-Overwatch-2-1-38-screenshot-large.png\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Image Credit: Blizzard Entertainment<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div id=\"esi-paragraph-68cad0422eacf\" class=\"esi-paragraph \">\n<p>Blizzard Entertainment has revealed a Persona-themed collaboration for <strong>Overwatch 2<\/strong>, with Joker from Persona 5 set to arrive as part of Season 18.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"esi-paragraph-68cad0422f26e\" class=\"esi-paragraph \">\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=r2nwpbXoDdY\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">announcement came through the season\u2019s launch trailer<\/a>, which concluded with an unmistakable tease featuring the Phantom Thieves Attacker. A silhouetted figure appeared against a red star-patterned background before revealing Ren Amamiya\u2019s white mask and red gloves.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"keep-reading \" id=\"kr-68cad042303d5\">\n<div class=\"heading section__title \"><span>Keep Reading<\/span><\/div>\n<ul class=\"d-flex flex-column\">\n<li id=\"post-203015\"><a href=\"https:\/\/esportsinsider.com\/overwatch-2-wuyang-support-hero-deep-dive\">Overwatch 2: Is Wuyang a worthwhile support hero?<\/a><\/li>\n<li id=\"post-199986\"><a href=\"https:\/\/esportsinsider.com\/overwatch-2-nerf-collaboration\">Overwatch 2 drops surprise collaboration with NERF<\/a><\/li>\n<li id=\"post-199533\"><a href=\"https:\/\/esportsinsider.com\/overwatch-2-support-tier-list\">Overwatch 2 support hero tier list in 2025: Who comes out on top?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"esi-paragraph-68cad0423169c\" class=\"esi-paragraph \">\n<p>The collaboration arrives at an important time for Overwatch 2\u2019s competitive scene, with the Overwatch Champions Series (OWCS) Stage 4 approaching in September. The crossover could help influence interest for the game, particularly in Japan where Persona maintains significant popularity. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"esi-paragraph-68cad04231d44\" class=\"esi-paragraph \">\n<p>Based on previous collaborations, multiple Overwatch 2 heroes should get skins based on popular Persona 5 characters. (Let\u2019s hope it\u2019s not another Mercy skin.)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"esi-heading-68cad04232451\" class=\"esi-heading \">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span id=\"season_18_could_impact_esports_meta_and_viewership-2\">Season 18 Could Impact Esports Meta and Viewership<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"esi-paragraph-68cad04232ad6\" class=\"esi-paragraph \">\n<p>The Persona collaboration launches alongside <a href=\"https:\/\/overwatch.blizzard.com\/en-us\/news\/24224137\/make-a-big-splash-in-season-18-stadium-quickplay\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Season 18\u2019s Stadium Quick Play mode on August 26th.<\/a> According to Blizzard\u2019s YouTube description, the mode arrives \u2018with shorter match times, quicker Item economy, backfill support and cross-play!\u2019 The timing positions the crossover content ahead of major OWCS tournaments scheduled for autumn 2025.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"esi-paragraph-68cad04233231\" class=\"esi-paragraph \">\n<p>Blizzard has previously leveraged high-profile collaborations to boost engagement during competitive seasons. Past partnerships have included One-Punch Man, LE SSERAFIM, Cowboy Bebop, My Hero Academia and Avatar: The Last Airbender.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"esi-paragraph-68cad0423396c\" class=\"esi-paragraph \">\n<p>Beyond the Persona content, Season 18 introduces several updates relevant to the competitive community. The new Support hero <a href=\"https:\/\/esportsinsider.com\/2025\/08\/overwatch-2-hero-wuyang-esports\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Wuyang joins the roster<\/a>, with abilities <a href=\"https:\/\/esportsinsider.com\/overwatch-2-wuyang-support-hero-deep-dive\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">focused on tactical repositioning and team utility.<\/a> Winston, Brigitte, Pharah and Tracer are being added to Stadium rotation, potentially shifting the competitive meta.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"esi-paragraph-68cad0423409b\" class=\"esi-paragraph \">\n<p>\u201cOver 50 new Perks are arriving at launch, with each Hero getting at least one new one,\u201d Blizzard announced. \u201cSeason 18 is also bringing a Competitive Rank Reset, allowing a fresh start for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"esi-paragraph-68cad04234847\" class=\"esi-paragraph \">\n<p>Stadium Quick Play\u2019s introduction of Draft Mode allows for pre-match counter-picking, a feature that could translate to future competitive formats if successful. The mode also supports cross-play and backfill, addressing common pain points in ranked queues.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"esi-paragraph-68cad04234ed7\" class=\"esi-paragraph \">\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re also bringing a brand new game mode to Stadium with Payload Race, 3 new maps, and the new Draft Mode,\u201d Blizzard stated. The Payload Race mode requires teams to \u2018push parallel payloads through checkpoints and fight to the finish line\u2019 with no checkpoint wins possible. Three new maps \u2014 Powder Keg Mine, Thames District, and Oasis Gardens \u2014 join the rotation.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"esi-paragraph-68cad042355b0\" class=\"esi-paragraph \">\n<p>Two new Mythic skins are also arriving in Season 18. The Sojourn Ultraviolet Sentinel skin is described as featuring \u2018four tiers of visual upgrades, including customizable hair styles and unique visual effects, sound effects\u2019and colorways.\u201d The Cassidy Blazing Sunsetter weapon skin \u2018responds to every trigger pull, heating up with reactive flair and a deadly flourish.\u2019<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/esportsinsider.com\/2025\/08\/overwatch-2-announces-persona-crossover-with-season-18\">Overwatch 2 announces Persona crossover with Season 18<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/esportsinsider.com\">Esports Insider<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Image Credit: Blizzard Entertainment Blizzard Entertainment has revealed a Persona-themed collaboration for Overwatch 2, with Joker from Persona 5 set to arrive as part of Season 18. The announcement came through the season\u2019s launch trailer, which concluded with an unmistakable tease featuring the Phantom Thieves Attacker. A silhouetted figure appeared against a red star-patterned background&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2065,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2063","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-overwatch"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ballpeenhammer.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2063","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ballpeenhammer.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ballpeenhammer.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ballpeenhammer.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ballpeenhammer.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2063"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.ballpeenhammer.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2063\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2066,"href":"http:\/\/www.ballpeenhammer.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2063\/revisions\/2066"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ballpeenhammer.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2065"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ballpeenhammer.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2063"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ballpeenhammer.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2063"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ballpeenhammer.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2063"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}