Overwatch 2 was "necessary" because it was going to introduce all this campaign content and move to a 5v5 format. Those were the reasons why these changes couldn't have just been made to the original Overwatch, or so it was claimed. That campaign content was ditched and now Blizzard is talking about going back to 6v6.
So, what was the point of the sequel again?
In the latest blog post from the Overwatch 2 team at Blizzard, they say that they are "exploring how we can test different forms of 6v6 in the game to gauge the results." This remark comes from game director Aaron Keller who notes that there are issues involving hero balancing, game performance, and the potential impact on queue times if players are left with a choice between different game modes.
The first, and honestly largest, reason is the need to do this in a way that allows the game to have optimized technical performance (I’m referring to framerate and memory constraints) with 12 players in a match. There have been quite a few upgrades and additions to Overwatch 2 that have an impact on the performance of the game. These range from new features like allied outlines and enabling healer vision by default, the addition of more technically demanding hero kits, as well as visual upgrades to UI, heroes and maps. In a 6v6 setting, these upgrades can have significant impacts for our players, causing the game to underperform on older systems. Overwatch is a fast-paced game, and maintaining a game that runs smoothly across all our platforms is important for the player’s experience. While a limited time test could arrive sooner, the team is still investigating exactly how long it would take to permanently increase performance across the game. This would be a large effort that would most likely take at least several seasons to accomplish.
Another issue, and one that still gives me anxiety about opening this Pandora’s Box, is what to do with queue times if enough players prefer 6v6 to keep some form of it around. The team was not able to solve this issue previously. While we have some ideas now, there’s no guarantee that they will work. Is there a world where people are willing to live with long queue times to play this format? Maybe, but that’s a pretty risky move to make. We also have tens of millions of new players that have only played 5v5. We want to be openly mindful not to frustrate those who like the game as it is today.
Another issue, and one that still gives me anxiety about opening this Pandora’s Box, is what to do with queue times if enough players prefer 6v6 to keep some form of it around. The team was not able to solve this issue previously. While we have some ideas now, there’s no guarantee that they will work. Is there a world where people are willing to live with long queue times to play this format? Maybe, but that’s a pretty risky move to make. We also have tens of millions of new players that have only played 5v5. We want to be openly mindful not to frustrate those who like the game as it is today.
