Overwatch Season Calendar (2026): When Does Season 6 Start?

Overwatch runs on seasons of eight or nine weeks inside a year Blizzard calls the Reign of Talon. Where you are in that calendar decides when placements come back, when your season rewards are settled and how long you have left to climb. This page lists every 2026 season from Blizzard's patch notes, what each one changed in Competitive, when Season 6 is expected and what Blizzard has said about 2027. One date on it is unofficial, and it's marked as such everywhere it appears.

Season 5: A Grim Doctrine, right now

Season 5 began on Tuesday 6 October 2026, the date of its patch notes and of Blizzard's forum copy. Today is day 28 of the season — and if the in-game timer is right, Season 6 starts in 36 days. These are the changes it brought:

• A new Support, Doctrine — Hero 54, in the Survivor sub-role.
• Sombra moved from Damage to Support, as a Tactician, with Hack replaced by Weaken.
• A reworked Roadhog, with a Scrap Gun and Trash Compactor.
• The Top 500 sorted by Rank: Challenger Score now only decides who qualifies, the Heat Bonus is gone, and end-of-season titles reference your Rank.
• Team Drives from 29 October to 1 November, with hero bans and map voting in Team Drive matches.

Blizzard's BlizzCon post said Season 5 "concludes the Reign of Talon story" — the year itself still has one season to go.

When does Season 6 start?

Blizzard hasn't announced it as of 2 November 2026. On 27 October 2026 Dexerto reported a Season 6 start date of Tuesday 8 December 2026, "according to the Battle Pass timer displayed in-game". That's a reading of the countdown, not a statement from Blizzard, and the time of day isn't known. It does fit everything else on the calendar: a new season starts the day the previous one ends, every 2026 season so far began on a Tuesday, and 8 December would give Season 5 the nine weeks Blizzard calls typical.

Our own season tracker uses the same projection — Season 5 running to 7 December, marked as an estimate — and the free season calendar counts down to it until Blizzard confirms or changes the date. Season 6's content hasn't been announced either; reports about the next hero are rumours, so they aren't repeated here.

Every 2026 season at a glance

The dates come from the title of each season's patch notes. Lengths run to the start of the next season.

Season	Started	Length	New heroes	What changed
Season 1 Conquest	10 February 2026	9 weeks	Domina Emre Anran Mizuki Jetpack Cat	Full rank reset to Unranked, sub-role passives, new Top 500 Challenger rules; the “2” dropped from the name.
Season 2 Summit	14 April 2026	9 weeks	Sierra	Map voting upgrades, +10 Competitive Points on New and Reworked maps, Match Voice Chat, the Switch 2 launch.
Season 3 Into The Tiger's Den	16 June 2026	8 weeks	Shion	Lobby Bans (a fifth ban slot) and live replays of Top 500 players.
Season 4 Heroes of Busan	11 August 2026	8 weeks	D.Mon	Emerald added between Platinum and Diamond with a Rank Redistribution; the first Team Drive.
Season 5 A Grim Doctrine	6 October 2026	9 weeks if it ends on 7 December	Doctrine	Top 500 sorted by Rank (Challenger Score only qualifies you), Heat Bonus removed, Sombra moved to Support.
Season 6 not announced	≈ 8 December 2026 (in-game timer)	—	—	The last season of the Reign of Talon year.

How long is an Overwatch season?

Eight or nine weeks in 2026. Seasons 1 and 2 ran nine weeks each, Seasons 3 and 4 eight, and Season 5 would be nine if the timer's date holds. Blizzard itself describes "a typical nine-week season" in its Weekly Recall on the Challenger leaderboards. Each season also has a midpoint: Season 4's midcycle brought the first Team Drive, which Blizzard scheduled from 4 September 11 AM PT to 7 September 11 AM PT, in the days before the mid-season patch. Season 5's Team Drive followed on 29 October to 1 November.

Season starts follow the patch day: all five 2026 seasons began on a Tuesday, with the season's patch notes published the same day. That's why a projected start such as 8 December, also a Tuesday, is plausible.

The Reign of Talon year, and 2027

The year opened on 10 February 2026, when Blizzard also dropped the "2" — the game is called Overwatch again, with accounts, ranks and heroes unchanged. Blizzard's Spotlight laid out the structure: the Reign of Talon runs "Season 1 through Season 6, before a new Season 1 launches in 2027". The BlizzCon reveals added that the Spotlight returns in February 2027, which is where the 2027 roadmap will be shown.

What 2027 brings for Competitive isn't announced. The 2026 year began with a full rank reset, a new competitive weapon variant — Crimson Wolf replaced Galactic — and last year's Competitive Points turning into Legacy Competitive Points. If 2027 follows that pattern, its Season 1 is when those things happen again. That is our reading of one year's pattern, not a Blizzard commitment.

Rank resets on the calendar

Blizzard ties resets to a three-season rhythm: new Top 500 icons arrive "at each Rank Reset, meaning that a new icon becomes available to earn every 3 seasons." The last full reset came with Season 1 on 10 February 2026, when "all ranks in Role Queue and Open Queue in Competitive Play have been reset to Unranked" and everyone played 10 placement matches per role. Three seasons later, on 11 August 2026, Emerald arrived between Platinum and Diamond with a Rank Redistribution that mainly moved Platinum and Diamond players into it — a redistribution, not a return to Unranked.

Between resets a new season keeps your rank, and it carries on moving after every match. The next reset hasn't been announced; by the three-season rhythm and the 2026 pattern, the 2027 Season 1 is the likelier moment than Season 6. Our rank reset and placements guide has every reset since 2024.

Plan your climb around the calendar

1. The last weeks still count.

   Since 26 August 2025 rewards are based on your highest rank in the season, not your final one, so a late losing streak can't take back a reward rank you already reached. Top 500 rewards are the exception: you must finish the season on the board.

2. Week three for the weapon.

   The 2026 Crimson Wolf weapons can be unlocked with Competitive Points "after the first two weeks of the season".

3. Spend this year's points before 2027.

   Unspent Competitive Points became Legacy points when the 2025 year ended. If 2027 repeats that, Season 6 is the last season to put 2026 points toward Crimson Wolf — see the Competitive Points guide.

4. Placements follow resets, not seasons.

   A new season alone doesn't bring placements back; a reset, a new role or a new account does.

5. Read the meta after each patch.

   New heroes and balance changes land at season starts, and Blizzard's Hero Stats page pulls its numbers "from the start of the most recent patch".

Reaching your rank before the season ends

If Season 5's rank matters — for the reward, or before a possible reset in 2027 — the weeks left are the constraint. Overwatch boosting opens soon — get the launch alert on the Overwatch hub. Boosting conflicts with Blizzard's rules; read is Overwatch boosting safe? before you order.

• A target rank: the rank boost, Bronze 5 to Champion 1, Emerald included.
• After a reset or on a new role: placement matches, only the games you have left.
• A fixed push: net wins at your rank.

Related guides: rank reset and placements · Competitive Points and rewards · every hero by role