New Overwatch 2 Tank Hero Revealed, Will Be Playable For Free This Weekend

Overwatch 2's next hero is Mauga, a dual gatling gun-wielding tank who hails from Samoa. Though the hero will become the game's 39th playable character starting with Season 8, players will be able to take the hero for a test spin during a free trial this weekend.

Mauga's reveal came a little earlier than expected, leaking ahead of BlizzCon 2023's opening ceremony via a post on the Nintendo Switch eShop news channel (via Reddit) before then being confirmed at the event. The character will be playable for free from November 3-5 as part of a Season 8 sneak peek, going live after the conclusion of the opening ceremony. He will be available in all modes aside from Competitive, and the No Limits Arcade mode will be available so multiple players per team can test out Mauga at once.

Wielding two massive chainguns, Mauga is designed for getting up close and personal with enemies. One chaingun, nicknamed "Gunny," deals incendiary damage, while the other, "Cha-Cha," can critically strike. That pairs well with Mauga's passive ability, Berserker, which grants him temporary health when dealing critical damage.

Rounding out Mauga's kit is an unstoppable charge ability called Overrun to help him break through the enemy frontlines, as well as an ability called Cardiac Overdrive that creates a damage resistance aura. His ultimate ability, Cage Fight, traps enemies in a ring that blocks incoming damage or healing from the outside, perfect for catching enemies out of position or isolating a priority target.

Mauga will officially launch as part of Overwatch 2 Season 8 on December 5, when he will need to be unlocked either by purchasing the Season 8 premium battle pass or reaching tier 45 in the standard battle pass. His reveal was to be just one of many BlizzCon 2023 announcements, though it isn't out of left-field. Mauga previously appeared in a 2019 Overwatch comic as a friend of support hero Baptiste.

As part of BlizzCon, it was also revealed that 2024 will see the release of three more new heroes, including a damage character named Venture and a support character codenamed Space Ranger.