Blizzard released Junkenstein's Lab into Overwatch 2 as part of a seasonal Halloween event a few weeks ago, but this supposedly temporary game mode quickly became a fan favourite, mostly due to its addition of hero traits rebranded as mutations, which gave a glimpse into some PvE features that were promised years ago and then abandoned.
After Overwatch 2 director Aaron Keller announced that, weeks after its release, the mode was still attracting 15% of daily players, Blizzard also issued a balance patch that helped rework some heroes. Genji, Kiriko, Mercy, and Orisa had the most changes, with all of them getting some substantial buffs to their kit, mainly focusing on more self-healing and shorter cooldowns.
But the best part of this small balance patch for Junkenstein's Lab wasn't the reworked heroes; it was the fact that Blizzard had recognised its popularity and was taking the time to fix issues. Many players, myself included, saw this as a really positive sign that the mode could stick around for longer, and maybe even make its way to the Arcade as a regular addition, not just a seasonal event. Now, I'm even more hopeful that this is the case.
The official Overwatch 2 X account announced that Junkenstein's Lab would be staying around for longer than was first planned: "The mad Dr. Junkenstein is thrilled by the success of his mutations and now looks to find even more volunteers for his experiments. The Junkenstein's Laboratory mode has been extended for an additional week, with the lab closing its doors on November 11."
It may be a lot to ask to add Junkenstein's Lab as a regular in the Arcade, especially as Blizzard is getting ready to introduce a few playtests for 5v5 modes and 6v6 modes in the latter half of this season and throughout the next. But it seems like such a waste of the hero traits to shelve Junkenstein's Lab for another year.
There's no definite sign that Blizzard is thinking about keeping this mode around permanently; that's all just wishful thinking right now. And while it's great that we'll get another week of Junkenstein's Lab, that doesn't mean you'll also get another week to complete all of the event challenges.
There are six challenges tied to Junkenstein's lab, most of which award you XP for playing a set number of games in different roles. But the end prize, Halloween Terror III, gives players the player title of Mutated Monster for completing 50 games in this mode. For anyone still interested in completing this, there are only seven hours left on the clock at the time of writing, so you better get a move on.
