Blizzard released Junkenstein’s Laboratory for Overwatch 2 as part of the seasonal Halloween event a few weeks ago, but the supposedly ephemeral game mode quickly became a fan favorite, largely due to the addition of hero traits renamed mutations, which provided a glimpse of some PvE features that were promised years ago , and then abandoned.
After Overwatch 2 director Aaron Keller announced that the mode was still attracting 15% of daily players weeks after launch, Blizzard also released balancing fix which helped rework some of the characters. Genji, Kiriko, Mercy, and Orisa received the most changes, with all receiving significant buffs to their kit, mainly focusing on greater self-healing and shorter cooldowns.
But the best part of this little balancing tweak to Junkenstein’s Laboratory wasn’t the reworked heroes; it was the fact that Blizzard recognized its popularity and took the time to fix the problems. Many players, myself included, took this as a really positive sign that the mode might stick around for the long haul and might even make it to the Arcade as a eternal addition rather than just a seasonal event. Now I have even more hope that this will happen.
The Overwatch 2 X official account announced that Junkenstein’s Laboratory would remain around longer than originally planned: “Mad Doctor Junkenstein is delighted with the success of his mutations and is now looking for even more volunteers for his experiments. Junkenstein’s Lab mode has been extended for an additional week, and the lab will close on November 11.”
Adding Junkenstein’s Laboratory as a eternal location in the arcade may be too much, especially as Blizzard prepares to introduce several 5v5 and 6v6 playtests in the second half of this season and throughout next. Postponing Junkenstein’s Laboratory for another year, however, seems like a waste of hero qualities.
There is no indication that Blizzard is thinking about leaving this mode permanently; this is all just wishful thinking for now. And while it’s great that we’re getting another week in Junkenstein’s Lab, that doesn’t mean you’ll also have another week to complete all of the event’s challenges.
There are six challenges associated with Junkenstein’s lab, most of which award XP points for playing a certain number of games in various roles. However, the final reward, Halloween Terror III, grants players the title of Mutant Monster for completing 50 games in this mode. For anyone still interested in completing this, there are only seven hours left at the time of writing, so you better get going.
