Overwatch Season 3 launches with Shion and Neon Junction

Overwatch Season 3 launched on June 16. The update adds a new Damage Hero, Shion; a Tokyo-themed Hybrid map called Neon Junction; a three-week event named Anima Strike; new cosmetic systems; hero balance and reworks; and competitive changes.

Shion is an Omnic presented as the leader of the Hashimoto Clan. She is classified as a Damage Hero with an emphasis on mobility and pressure. Her primary weapons are dual pistols with a distinct three-round firing cadence. Her kit includes short dashes for repositioning and a motorcycle that players can ride across the battlefield and convert into a projectile attack. Season notes describe her backstory as a former captive and training unit who rose to lead the Hashimoto Clan.

Neon Junction is a Hybrid map set beneath neon-lit Tokyo storefronts. Matches begin with a capture point and then shift to a payload escort toward a destination called Zuiko-za. The map contains arcade areas, capsule machines, late-night shops and narrow alleys. The payload is labeled ANDROMEDA III, a reference to the game’s in-world Super Cosmic War franchise; the map includes set pieces and locations tied to that theme.

Anima Strike runs from June 16 to July 6. The three-week narrative event ties progression to daily and weekly challenges. Players move across an event map that features Hashimoto, Yokai and Subway locations, choose branching paths, and can unlock a prestige route after completing the main path. The event offers more than 50 themed rewards.

Season 3 introduces evolving Mythic items and new premium cosmetics. The Ascendant Phoenix Illari skin and the Tokyo Rebel Hanzo weapon evolve through multiple tiers, adding visual changes and effects based on progression or performance. The Battle Pass provides summer-themed cosmetics and up to 80 Mythic Prisms to spend on Mythic items and other unlocks. Two Ultra Skins debut for Kiriko and Sierra, offering custom sound suites, kill effects and ambient animations. The in-game shop runs the Street Rebels collection from June 16–July 6 and the Nyan Café collection from June 23–July 13. The Ultimate Battle Pass includes premium items such as Cyber Biker Shion and Cowpunk Cassidy. The Excavation Initiative grants a total of 17 standard Loot Boxes plus one Epic and one Legendary Loot Box for logging in, completing challenges and winning matches over the season.

Community Crafted runs June 30–July 13 and brings four creators into hero design experiments. Contributors Guxue, Ocie, Apply and mL7support produced trial variants for existing heroes. Examples include a more aggressive Reinhardt brawler, a version of Baptiste that converts Immortality Field into an Ultimate, changes to Ashe that expand B.O.B.’s battlefield presence, and a Sombra variant that restores a disruptive flanker role.

The patch also delivers a broad Stadium update that refreshes many heroes and applies larger reworks to characters such as Hazard, Tracer, Kiriko, Sojourn and Doomfist. Ranked play will remove Grouping Restrictions, and Oasis University is added to the competitive map pool. Hero Select receives interface changes, including role filters, larger portraits, improved controller navigation and on-screen role and sub-role information.

Season materials identify themes of identity and loyalty and use the promotional tagline “Ride Fast and Hit Hard.” The update is available now and the Anima Strike event runs through July 6.