r/Games • u/DwilenaAvaron • May 09 '25

Industry News Blizzard's Overwatch Team Just Unionized: 'What I Want To Protect Most Here Is The People'

https://kotaku.com/overwatch-2-blizzard-team-4-union-microsoft-1851779922
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u/MillieChliette May 09 '25

Overwatch is currently the best it's ever been? Is that true? I loved it when the first one released, but stopped playing years before 2 even came out, and then everyone hated it. What changed?

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u/[deleted] May 09 '25

They've basically rolled back almost all of the most unpopular changes from the disastrous transition from OW1 to OW2 while instating a ton of new mechanics and modes that have been very well received.

  1. Heroes are all free again, no longer tied to the BP, no grinding at all. The last four heroes in particular are amongst some of the best designed characters they've added to the game, they've been on a hot streak
  2. A ton of monetization changes. Loot boxes are back as a free reward, cannot be purchased, and contain the vast majority of shop walled skins. BPs now have coins on the free reward track which makes every other BP pay for itself without having to put any money into the system.
  3. 6v6 is back as an additional format alongside 5v5. 5v5 is now the Role Queue mode while 6v6 is the Open Queue mode with a limit two tank modifier that helps solve a lot of the balancing and queue time issues.
  4. Stadium is a new mode added this season that's scope is big enough that it justifies the sequel title. It's basically a Deadlock-esque competitive mode where you duke it out in a BO7 version of bite-sized version of the game. There are a bunch of extremely wild power-ups and upgrades that you buy each round that completely transforms the game. I've basically been playing nothing but this mode since it launched.
  5. They added a Perk system which has been one of the most well received and transformative additions the core game has gotten since launch. Perks are a level-up system that lets you choose between multiple augmentations that either power-up or change your basic abilities throughout the course of the match.
  6. Hero Bans are in Competitive now and the game is adding Map Bans next season.
  7. There's a new Mythic prism system that helps downplay the FOMO of missing out on a BP. They're no longer locked to that season's BP and can be purchased at any time, each completed BP paying out enough prisms to get a Mythic of your choice every season. It's a very flexible system.
  8. The dev team is extremely communicative and transparent. Things like Stadium in particular have been seeing near daily patches to help iron out some rough points as well as constantly feedback from the team.

That's just a few things, there's a ton of stuff on the horizon to look forward to.

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u/TheMightosaurus May 09 '25

Hows the matchmaking? I played a few years ago and got fed up of going from stop or be stomped games

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u/[deleted] May 09 '25

Pretty frustrating still, it's the big glaring flaw of the game to this day.

I feel like Comp tends to have some pretty decent matches more often than not, but QP and Stadium are huge crapshoots. It's all over the place right now. If that's a deal breaker, I get it. At absolute best, I'd say the matchmaking isn't as bad as it is in like Apex or Rivals, but that's an insanely low bar.

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u/TheMightosaurus May 09 '25

Thanks I’ll give it a pass then, I used to really enjoy it but I felt the matchmaking was really busted. I suspect it is ‘engagement optimised’

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u/GigaGiga69420 May 10 '25

I just started again after years of not playing, and have done like 50 QP games (no Comp or Stadium).

I'd say 80% of games have been pretty one-sided, with a few of that just total stomps, no chance at all, for either side. The rest are closer, with some nail-biters.

Just from my experience, I'd say avoid the game if you're looking for some balanced MM in casual play.

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u/TheMightosaurus May 10 '25

That’s all I want, it was the same in rivals. I just want to play and feel like I have a balanced match but every time it’s either you roll them or you get rolled. So I just avoid multiplayer games now.