Overwatch 2 Season 13 Dives Back into 6v6 Nostalgia with Kingmaker and Limit 2 Modes

Ah, the great Overwatch team size debate. It's been the gaming equivalent of arguing about pineapple on pizza since the big switch from Overwatch 1 to Overwatch 2. For some folks, the move to 5v5 was a breath of fresh air—it kicked those pesky double-shield strategies to the curb and trimmed down those agonizing queue times, you know? But for others, saying goodbye to the 6v6 brawl and the classic Main Tank and Off Tank duo felt like losing an old friend. It's left the solo Tank player feeling like the loneliest hero in the arena, carrying the weight of the world (and the entire enemy team's focus) on their shoulders. Honestly, you gotta feel for them sometimes.

This ongoing pressure has finally pushed the Overwatch 2 developers to get creative. They're taking a page out of Sombra's playbook and 'hacking' the traditional rules. Enter Quick Play: Hacked, a series of limited-time modes designed to shake up the core gameplay. Think of it as the game's experimental lab, where new mechanics and wild ideas get to play. The latest experiments, launching in the latter half of Season 13, are a direct nod to the past, testing variations of the old 6v6 structure before potentially diving into a full-blown 6v6 test later. Let's break down the two new modes causing all the buzz: Limit 2 and Kingmaker.

First up is Limit 2. This mode keeps the 5-player team size but throws the rigid 1-2-2 role lock out the window. The core rule is simple: you can have a maximum of two players in any role. This opens up a whole new world of team compositions and strategies. It's like being told you can finally mix all the ice cream flavors you want. The available team setups are:

• 🛡️ 1 Tank, 2 Damage, 2 Support (The classic, familiar setup)

• 🛡️🛡️ 2 Tanks, 2 Damage, 1 Support (Double the armor, half the healing? Bold!)

• 🛡️🛡️ 2 Tanks, 1 Damage, 2 Supports (An unbreakable fortress with tons of sustain)

This freedom allows teams to adapt on the fly. Facing a heavy damage comp? Maybe double up on Tanks for more protection. Need more objective control? Two Supports could keep the team fighting forever. The possibilities are intriguing, to say the least.

Then there's its sibling mode, Kingmaker. It operates under the same 'Limit 2' rule but adds a spicy twist. What if being the odd one out wasn't a disadvantage, but a power-up? In Kingmaker, the player who ends up as the sole representative of their role on the team receives a special bonus or buff. Talk about a consolation prize with teeth!

This mechanic adds a fascinating strategic layer. Do you deliberately build a team with one lonely Tank, hoping their 'Kingmaker' buff turns them into an unstoppable juggernaut? Or do you avoid that gamble and stick with a balanced two-of-each-role spread from the Limit 2 options? The value of these buffs will be everything—will the solo Support become an unkillable healing fountain? Will the lone Damage hero become a one-person apocalypse? We'll have to wait and see, but it sure makes hero selection a lot more interesting.

Mode	Team Size	Core Rule	Special Mechanic
Limit 2	5v5	Max 2 players per role	Role flexibility & new comps
Kingmaker	5v5	Max 2 players per role	Bonus for the solo role player

These modes are more than just a fun diversion; they're a critical testing ground. The developers have been pretty clear that this is the first step toward exploring a potential return of 6v6. Going back to a full 6v6 format would require massive, sweeping changes—think hero reworks, ability tweaks, and total balance overhauls to prevent certain characters from becoming completely broken. Can you imagine a 6v6 with two of the same overpowered Tank? Yikes. So, Limit 2 and Kingmaker are the cautious, first probes into that design space, seeing how the community reacts to more flexible team building and how the game's ecosystem handles the pressure.

It's a clever move. Instead of just flipping a switch back to 6v5, they're letting players taste the strategic depth of multi-role compositions again in a controlled environment. Whether you're a veteran missing the old brawls or a newer player curious about what all the fuss was about, Season 13's Hacked modes offer a fascinating 'what if' scenario. Will it be chaos? Probably. Will it be fun? Absolutely. And who knows, the data and feedback from these experiments might just shape the very future of Overwatch 2's core gameplay. The arena's about to get a lot more... flexible.