Queues and team size

Role Queue, Open Queue, 5v5 and 6v6: which rules apply where and since when.

What there is today

Blizzard’s player figures of 28 June 2026 name these queues, among others: Role Queue 5v5 and Open Queue 6v6, each ranked and unranked, Mystery Heroes 6v6 unranked, and Stadium ranked and unranked.
Source: Director's Take: Future Formats
With Overwatch 2 the core game went down to five players per team. In Role Queue each team has had a single tank since then.
Source: Patch notes 4 Oct 2022 · Developer blog on gameplay, maps and Competitive
For the former Team Queue and for Stadium Blizzard names the split outright: 1 tank, 2 damage, 2 support.
Source: Patch notes 11 Jul 2023 · Enter the Stadium: Get Ready to Battle

Role Queue started in Overwatch 1: you pick your role before searching, and the matchmaker puts two tanks, two damage heroes and two supports in each team.
Source: Patch notes 13 Aug 2019
Groups can offer several roles for the next match (Party Flex).
Source: Patch notes 16 Jan 2020
Blizzard calls longer queues the main cost of Role Queue: in 6v6 a match needed four players of each role, so the least popular role set the pace.
Source: Director's Take on 5v5 and 6v6

Open Queue has no role limits: anyone can play any hero. Blizzard first tried it for Competitive as an Arcade mode.
Source: Patch notes 14 Apr 2020
From Season 23 Competitive offered both queues side by side. Open Queue got its own rating and leaderboard.
Source: Patch notes 30 Jun 2020
Tanks have less health in modes without Role Queue, because a team can field several of them there.
Source: Patch notes 7 Feb 2023

Overwatch 1 was six against six. For the move to 5v5 Blizzard gives several reasons: more weight for each player, fights that need not wait for ultimates, fewer locked-up tank pairs and fewer players to watch.
Source: Director's Take on 5v5 and 6v6
Many patches still list separate 6v6 values for heroes, for example D.Mon’s armor.
Source: Patch notes 17 Sept 2026

6v6 since Overwatch 2
Date	Change	Source
17 Dec 2024	Limited 6v6 test with Role Queue 2-2-2 in the Unranked menu, with its own hero values.	Patch notes 17 Dec 2024
21 Jan 2025	6v6 test “min 1, max 3”: each team needs every role at least once and at most three times; roles can be switched in the spawn room.	Patch notes 21 Jan 2025
18 Mar 2025	6v6 Open Queue with at most two tanks replaces 5v5 Open Queue for a limited time, ranked and unranked, with perks.	Patch notes 18 Mar 2025
14 Apr 2026	Mystery Heroes becomes 6v6; tanks there use their 6v6 values.	Patch notes 14 Apr 2026
30 Jul 2026	Two Quick Play: Hacked weekends test 6v6 queues: Flex Queue with 1 tank, 3 flexible damage players and 2 supports, then a Dynamic Queue that mixes 2-2-2 and Flex Queue.	Patch notes 30 Jul 2026 Director's Take: Future Formats

Since Season 18 console players can use mouse and keyboard. Matchmaking has two pools since then, one for mouse and keyboard and one for controller, each with its own ratings and ranks.
Source: Patch notes 26 Aug 2025
Aim assist is off for everyone in the pool for mouse and keyboard, even with a controller. A controller on PC does not give access to the controller pool.
Source: Patch notes 26 Aug 2025

Patch notes: Blizzard’s patch notes of the days linked at each statement. 13 Aug 2019 · 16 Jan 2020 · 14 Apr 2020 · 30 Jun 2020 · 4 Oct 2022 · 7 Feb 2023 · 11 Jul 2023 · 17 Dec 2024 · 21 Jan 2025 · 18 Mar 2025 · 26 Aug 2025 · 14 Apr 2026 · 30 Jul 2026 · 17 Sept 2026
Blizzard pages: Director's Take: Future Formats (published 15 Jul 2026) · Developer blog on gameplay, maps and Competitive (published 13 Oct 2022) · Enter the Stadium: Get Ready to Battle (published 14 Apr 2025) · Director's Take on 5v5 and 6v6 (published 25 Jul 2024)
Texts: Our own words. Every statement links the source it is based on; what no source describes stays open.