Overwatch’s new hero arrives today, but not for competitive play

Overwatch’s 24th hero, Orisa, goes live in all versions of the game today, but she won’t be available to play in Competitive multiplayer mode. Blizzard says it wants players to spend some time with Orisa to familiarize themselves with her abilities before they take her into Competitive games.

“When patch 1.9 releases tomorrow, Orisa will not initially be available for Competitive Play,” said Scott Mercer, principal designer on Overwatch, in a post on the game’s forums. “We want to give players some time to learn about and play Orisa before she's placed into the crucible of Competitive Play.

“She'll still be immediately available in Quick Play, the Arcade (including custom games with the competitive ruleset), and Play vs. AI.”

Players won’t have to wait long, however; Orisa will only be disabled in Competitive Play for one week, according to the game’s official Twitter account.

Blizzard’s approach to Orisa is different from previous post-release characters. Ana was released in the middle of Overwatch’s first competitive season and was immediately available for play. Sombra was released near the end of the game’s third competitive season.

Orisa is coming to Overwatch in the midst of the game’s fourth competitive season, which kicked off at the end of February.