Overwatch will feature squad-based combat with two opposing teams of six players each. Similar to a multiplayer online battle arena game, players choose one of several hero characters, each with their own unique abilities and role classes.
The four character roles include: offense-oriented characters with high speed and attack but low defense, defense-oriented characters meant to form choke points for enemies, support characters that provide buffs for their allies such as healing and other boosts, and tank characters that have a large amount of armor and hit points to withstand enemy attacks.
Players can switch between characters in-game following deaths—a mechanism which is encouraged by the game's overall design. The game's maps are inspired by real-world locations;the first three maps unveiled—"King's Row", "Hanamura", and "Temple of Anubis"—are inspired by England, Japan, and the ruins of Ancient Egypt respectively.
Overwatch currently has two game modes:
Payload: one team must escort a bomb to a certain delivery point before time runs out, while the opposing team must stop them.
Point Capture: the attacking team must attempt to capture points on the map, while the defending team must stop them