Overwatch Season 18 Start Date Announced
Blizzard announced the start date of Overwatch Competitive Season 18 on Wednesday, setting the opening of the first competitive season with role queue to 8 p.m. ET Saturday, Aug. 31.
According to Overwatch community manager Molly Fender, role queue will have a staggered rollout, reaching Quick Play at 2 p.m. ET Tuesday Sept. 3.
Gather your squad!
— Overwatch (@PlayOverwatch) August 28, 2019
Role Queue is coming to Competitive Play on September 1st! Quick Play will join shortly after.
? Launch Times: https://t.co/cdMq3oBhBl pic.twitter.com/F2uOgPfAjs
As Quick Play gains role queue, a Quick Play Classic Arcade game mode will enter the rotation simultaneously to allow players to continue playing Overwatch Quick Play as it was before the introduction of role queue.
Role queue arrived in Overwatch's Competitive mode with a two week beta period that began Aug. 13. In a Tuesday post on the Overwatch forums, Blizzard indicated role queue had significantly improved the game for most players.
Blizzard reiterated in the Tuesday forum post that skill ratings earned during that short testing period will affect SR in Competitive Season 18.
Photo courtesy of Blizzard