While Overwatch is now on the top of its game, it was overshadowed by Marvel Rivals only a few months ago. NetEase’s hero shooter was taking in all the players who were frustrated with the state of the game and some of Blizzard’s decisions. Chief among these was the controversial call to move away from a 6v6 format in favor of a 5v5 one.
For a while it looked like Marvel Rivals would be running away with it, until Blizzard’s big rebranding of Overwatch, and the addition of five new heroes. However, game director Aaron Keller thinks Overwatch wouldn’t have been on such a downward trajectory if Blizzard had addressed the 5v5 format sooner.
Overwatch’s Delay In Addressing The 5v5 Debate Cost Them
“This was one of the most, if not the most, controversial gameplay decisions in Overwatch’s history,” said Keller during a panel at this year’s GDC (thanks PC Gamer). The switch to 5v5 in 2022 not only required a lot of balancing changes due to the lack of one Tank hero, but the community wasn’t too fond of it either. Fans had taken to various forums, demanding that the 6v6 format return.
“We waited at least a year before we meaningfully addressed the 5v5 versus 6v6 debate, kind of hoping that the conversation would settle on its own,” said Keller. “We should have listened sooner.” In the meanwhile, Marvel Rivals was able to swoop in and take a huge chunk of Overwatch’s player base with it.
While there were several factors that contributed to overwatch no longer being the hero shooter of choice, Keller admitted that changing the beloved formula and waiting for so long to address it “cost us trust”. Meanwhile Marvel Rivals was doing pretty well by communicating with the fans.
“Overwatch didn’t need to be reinvented. The core game needed to be understood, protected, and allowed to evolve,” he concluded. “And what ultimately changed things for us wasn’t a single feature or a system, it was a shift in how we listened, how we acted, and how we consistently showed up.”
- Released
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August 10, 2023
- ESRB
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Teen / Violence, Blood, Mild Language, Use of Tobacco, Users Interact, In-Game Purchases (Includes Random Items)
