We're approaching the end of the Competitive/ranked season in Overwatch. Blizzard's posts have told us that the next season won't be starting right away. There will be a short offseason in between.
Welcome to Competitive Play (2016-06-28)
Competitive Play will consist of four seasons, each lasting two and a half months. […] This is followed by a two-week offseason, after which a new season will commence, beginning with a new set of placement matches.
Season 1 Ending Soon (2016-08-05)
Season 1 will officially end on Wednesday, August 17 […]
Season 2 is currently scheduled to launch on September 6
Season 3 Competitive Changes on PTR
we’re going to shorten the off-season downtime to just one week […]
Season 2 ending at 00:00 UTC on November 24 […]
Season 3 beginning on December 1
I prefer to play in the Competitive game mode, and am worried it will be disabled during the offseason. Is this correct? If not, how will it work? Will ranks be hidden, or just inconsequential (because they're going to be reset in a few weeks)?
Best Answer
The competitive game mode is open for unranked play during the offseason. Like other unranked modes, the player's individual player levels are displayed instead of their competitive rankings.
The competitive mode was entirely closed during the first offseason (between seasons 1 and 2). This was described by Jeff Kaplan in this video: