Blizzard hosted an Overwatch 2 multiplayer reveal livestream overnight, and in it detailed a rather dramatic change coming in the future to the setup of online brawls. Matches will now contain two teams of five instead of the previous six, with the Tank class losing one of its slots when players can pick the character they wish to play as. This change also affects the original Overwatch game, and means squads can now pick between two Damage classes, two Support units, and just one Tank. This is said to take effect in the near future.
Aaron Keller, game director at Blizzard (and replacement for Jeff Kaplan), said this change reflects how the team feels Overwatch should be played. "Overwatch has changed over time. We’ve gone from having no hero limits...to having a hero limit. We ended up introducing a role lock over the course of the game. We feel like this is the next step in the way Overwatch ought to be played."
A couple of heroes are also being tweaked for the future, of which Bastion seems to be the most dramatic. The robot turned turret will be reworked "from the ground up" while Mei's Endothermic Blaster will slow down and damage other characters in Overwatch 2 instead of freezing them. Meanwhile, maps such as Rio, New York, Monte Carlo, and Toronto have been revealed. Check out the PvP developer livestream embedded above to see some gameplay.
Overwatch 2 is still without a release date at the time of writing, but don't forget that all of the content from the base game is transferring over to the sequel. How do you react to Blizzard dropping a character slot for Overwatch matches? Let us know in the comments below.
[source theverge.com]
Comments 10
Coping Paladins I see, how ironic. Anyway, Paladins was the superior game , gameplay wise.
Makes sense. 6 v 6 always felt like a strange number for each team in this kind of game.
It seems like they’re turning tanks into a ‘brawler’ type class rather than focused on protecting teammates. Could be interesting. If the game wasn’t different enough from the first one, people would be asking why they’re having to buy it again.
I’m not sold. Role locking is kinda miserable. I’m not as good at some roles, so locking me felt like saying I have to be miserable and the team can’t get it’s role fulfilled the entire match if I want to experiment. It kinda just raises barriers and makes it hard enjoy the game. That should’ve been only in ranked.
It honestly started taking casual way too seriously. Especially given the style of art and characters.
Remember in TF2 when you could have two Heavies being ubered by two Medics and they would wipe out the entire team?
I miss classic TF2.
@Jaz007 while I prefer role queue, I do want to point out there is quick play classic and open queue ranked which gives you the original 6 v 6 pick whoever experience. Not sure what’ll be on the next game but I’d assume it’s the same since Overwatch 1 will follow suit.
If I was at all interested in this game I wouldn't be now with this announcement.
1. Overwatch is dead anyway, has been for a few years now.
2. Some tanks would have to be reworked. Winston for example would need serious changes to be viable as a solo tank
@Legacy2K definitely not a dead game. I’ve been playing it semi regularly and I never have any problems finding a match. I’d say the last year has been the roughest as the team is really focusing on Overwatch 2.
Winston is one of the characters they’ve already showed tweaks for. Sounds like he has an alt fire that lets him charge and shoot a laser projectile. I’m sure a lot of heroes are being tweaked for this change.
Also on topic, they did a test run a while back of a 3(dps)-2(healer)-1(tank) composition in experimental. The tanks all had some different abilities to let them solo tank and honestly it was a lot more fun than expected. I’d say give the 2-2-1 a try or at least wait for impressions/reviews.
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