Nexon announced on August 7 that Overwatch Season 5, titled 'Shadow Creed', is officially underway. The new season rolls out a hefty serving of updates—including a fresh hero, a brand-new map, and sweeping reworks for existing roster staples—alongside a massive crossover event and localized happenings tailored specifically for players in South Korea.

The headline addition for Season 5 is 'Doctrine', a brand-new support hero entering the fray. Sporting a distinct vampire aesthetic, Doctrine is designed to juggle healing allies and dishing out damage simultaneously. The hero utilizes 'Infusion' to supercharge subsequent abilities, deploys a 'Propulsion Veil' to mitigate incoming damage while moving, and drops 'Vitality Drones' to patch up teammates while boosting their attack speed. When things get spicy, the ultimate ability 'Salvation' unleashes a swarm of drones that chips away at enemy maximum health bars while granting extra vitality to nearby allies.

Also joining the map pool is 'Grimsvøten', a new escort map set against the dramatic backdrop of an Icelandic volcanic region. Lore-wise, this high-security prison was built in the wake of the Omnic Crisis to hold dangerous criminals and stash volatile tech—making it the exact facility where Doctrine was once locked away. Meanwhile, balance teams have been busy with hero reworks. Sombra shifts from the damage role over to the support camp, overhauling the playstyle entirely around healing teammates. Roadhog gets a tweaked primary fire operating on a two-shot burst, alongside a fresh ability called 'Trash Compactor' that absorbs enemy projectiles before detonating them right back in their faces.