Overwatch is at the forefront of gaming right now, but it was overshadowed by Marvel Rivals just a few months ago. NetEase's hero shooter has catered to all players who were dissatisfied with the state of the game and some of Blizzard's decisions. Chief among them was the controversial call to move away from the 6v6 format in favor of a 5v5 format.
For a while, it seemed like Marvel Rivals would run away, until Blizzard massively rebranded Overwatch and added five new heroes. However, game director Aaron Keller believes Overwatch wouldn't have suffered such a downward spiral if Blizzard had tackled the 5v5 format earlier.
Overwatch's 5v5 Debate Resolution Delays Cost Us
“This was one of the most controversial gameplay decisions in Overwatch history,” said Keller during this year's GDC panel (thanks to PC Gamer). Moving to 5v5 in 2022 not only required a lot of balancing due to not having a single tank hero, but the community wasn't very happy about it either. Fans took to various forums to call for the return of the 6v6 format.
“I waited at least a year to meaningfully address the 5-on-5 versus 6-on-6 debate, hoping the conversation would resolve itself,” Keller said. “We should have listened sooner.” Meanwhile, Marvel Rivals was able to swoop in and take over a huge chunk of Overwatch's player base.
There were several factors that led to Overwatch no longer being a hero shooter of choice, but Keller admitted that they “lost credibility” by waiting too long to change the popular formula and fix the issues. Meanwhile, Marvel Rivals was doing quite well by communicating with fans.
“Overwatch doesn’t need to be reinvented. The core game needs to be understood, protected, and allowed to evolve,” he concluded. “What ultimately changed us was not a single feature or system, but a change in the way we listen, the way we act, and the way we show up on an ongoing basis.”
- released
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August 10, 2023
- ESRB
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Youth/Violence, Blood, Mild Language, Tobacco Use, User Interaction, In-Game Purchases (including random items)
