With Overwatch 2 being out for almost 3 months now, players have had ample time to adjust to the new 5v5 game change as well as give their feedback on the mid-season balance patch. However, the community has reacted negatively to the game, with the majority of the issues centered on cosmetics, monetization, the Battle Pass, and almost every other issue other than the core FPS gameplay.
Upon reading numerous articles and gameplay blogs by Blizzard, I determined that now would be a good opportunity to review this live-service game and determine whether or not Blizzard has done a good job with Overwatch 2.
This article will list out the main reasons that are holding back this game in terms of enjoyment, gameplay, monetization, and rewards and that have the potential to make players leave the game if these issues remain unaddressed, while also having potential solutions to the issue that Blizzard can implement. The reasons are not ranked in any particular order.
10. Greedy Monetization
Blizzard has a turbulent history with its monetization practices, yet with Overwatch 2 being its most recently released game, it feels as if the company has not learned from its mistakes. Legendary skins will cost approximately 20 USD per skin and 10 USD for epic skins, regardless of the country that you live in. Not to mention the large variation in skin quality, especially when compared to older skins, or the recent controversy with Kiriko’s legendary skin, which consists of her wearing a jacket and slightly different leggings compared to her base skin.
For a brand new free-to-play player who never played the original Overwatch, they will almost never unlock any skins for the heroes that they play. At best, twitch drops, random giveaways, and playing events will be their primary sources of cosmetics.
Solutions:
- Bringing back loot boxes system similar to the original Overwatch.
- Give players the ability to earn Overwatch premium currency by playing the game
- Similar to Apex Legends, add a separate earnable currency that can unlock hero skins
9. Lack of rewards for playing the game
Most games reward their player base for playing their game in some form or another. Developers typically give away cosmetics, or the ability to earn cosmetics, to their player base once a milestone has been reached, such as playing 100 games in a season, leveling up, or getting access to more gameplay features.
The only rewards that Overwatch players enjoy are the daily and weekly quests that give Battle Pass experience, or up to 60 coins per week, which amounts to 60 cents. By comparison, a legendary skin costs 1900 coins to purchase, which would take 32 weeks of weekly play to unlock. Both of these rewards feel unfulfilling to receive and amount to next to nothing.
Other quests, such as the seasonal and ranked quests, are either extremely niche tasks or are so long-term that players rarely work on them or keep them in mind. Some examples of these quests are eliminating players in certain parts of the map or achieving a certain rank by the end of a season.
Solutions:
- Add the ability for players to earn more currency in the weekly quests
- Add a separate currency that can be exchanged for cosmetics
- Add older cosmetics or voice lines, sprays, intro and highlight poses as earnable rewards
8. Unfulfilling Ranked Progression
In nearly all shooter games, playing ranked games is more stressful and rage-inducing compared to casuals, yet players climb the ranked leaderboards to see themselves improve, earn bragging rights, or for a different experience.
The ranked experience in Overwatch 2 brings in the same reasons that players wish to play ranked yet lack a key component when compared to other shooter games on the market; it feels unfulfilling. This can be attributed to the arbitrary requirement of 7 victories or 20 defeats to have an update on a player's rank, having an awfully designed ranked badge, and having zero visual changes once a player earns a rank.
In other popular games such as Apex Legends, Dota 2, and League of Legends, players can express their rank via aesthetic changes in their character or in the environment. The skydive trails, voicelines, music packs, sprays, emotes, and even giving out cosmetics at the end of a season all add up to make playing ranked games more rewarding.
Solutions:
- Display the average team rank in the scoreboard
- Display the player’s rank below their hero icon in the HUD
- Add quirky lines that heroes say upon ranking up
- Reduce the number of games required to rank up to 5 victories or 10 defeats
7. Awful Battle Pass
The purpose of Battle Pass is to provide players with a sense of progress, which then rewards players for playing the game or accomplishing a goal. What Overwatch lacks in comparison to other video games is impressive rewards, both for free and for players who purchased the rewards.
For this first season of Overwatch 2, the majority of the rewards in the Battle Pass are voice lines, poses, sprays, emotes, player icons, player banners, and weapon charms. I am extremely confident in saying that all of these rewards feel incredibly underwhelming when received, and some of these cosmetics will never be used.
The big rewards that the player base will be focused on getting are the well-designed skins, of which there are approximately four: Cyber Demon Genji, Miko Mercy, Hinotori Kiriko, and EDM D. Va. There are five other skins that are unlockable in the Battle Pass, but those skins are lower quality and less aesthetically appealing.
Compared to the games that have mastered the Battle Pass system, such as Fortnite and Apex, Overwatch 2’s Battle Pass is simply underwhelming and arguably on the same level of grind as Valorant, except that Valorant doesn't lock heroes behind their Battle Pass while containing premium currency.
Solutions:
- Put better cosmetics in the Battle Pass, perhaps older skins as well
- Replace every 10th level with Overwatch Coins
- Add more battle pass levels beyond level 80
6. New and Future Heroes are locked behind the Battle Pass
Tying into the last point, Blizzard made the rule that new heroes are to be locked behind the 55th level of a free Battle Pass or the 1st level of a premium Battle Pass. For a game that relies on counterpicking and changing heroes, this system gives paying players more access to gameplay options and is objectively terrible for the game. This issue hits higher-ranked players the hardest, as those players understand the meta and heroes much better than the rest but lack the tools to counter the composition of the enemy team.
Solution:
- Release new heroes without tying them to Battle Pass
5. Toxicity and lack of punishment
Toxicity has plagued the gaming industry ever since the dawn of LAN Halo tournaments until modern day voice communications in triple A games with a prominent esports scene. The combination of a high stress level in ranked games, the 20–40 minute duration that a game could take, and the anonymity that comes from playing behind a username is a perfect recipe for gamers to flame or open their mic to their teammates.
This is my purely anecdotal experience, but I find myself muting more often and experiencing more toxicity in Overwatch 2 than in the original game and in other popular shooter games out there. In combination with the lack of moderation and the reporting system being subpar, many toxic players can get away with flaming and even griefing their teammates.
Solutions:
- Harsher punishments such as removal of voice chat, typing to teammates, and a timed ban for regular offenders
- Better system for detecting flaming or griefing behavior
4. Unbalanced heroes
Having a look at the most played heroes that the top 10% of players play, you’ll quickly see a mass of Sojourn and Zarya picks, while the community has been begging for buffs for Doomfist and Cassidy. Though Sombra has been a large annoyance that kills the fun for any backline hero, her win rate is struggling.
The latest 1.1 balance patch didn’t quite hit the mark as the patch nerfed D. Va, Zarya, and Genji quite substantially, while slightly nerfing Kiriko and Sombra. Needless to say, the balance patch has not been well received by the Overwatch community.
Another issue that’s been creeping up is the state of the support role, where many players voice their concern about how useless they feel due to the reduced damage output, being dependent on their team, and being the sole source of healing. Support is currently the least played role while also being one of the worst in terms of its potential to carry games.
Solutions:
- Have the balance team play the game for a minimum of 3 hours per role per week
- Receive input from all skill levels in the game
- Thoroughly review the statistics and win rate of heroes
3. Bugs and Patches
Despite being in closed beta for more than 4 months and in development for years, Overwatch 2 has been plagued with bugs and issues ever since its launch. It is understandable for any new game to have bugs upon release, but taking out heroes for 15 days or longer for a game-breaking bug is simply too long of a time period, especially for a billion-dollar company such as Blizzard.
The frequency of patches is another issue that harms the fun and enjoyability of the game, as the game appears to only have one balance patch per season in its first few months. When you compare this to other FPS games that push out a balance patch once every 2 weeks and the poor reception of the patch, these issues are not a good look for the future of Overwatch.
Solution:
- Have more balance and bug fix patches more frequently
2. Removal of old features
Perhaps the weirdest change that Overwatch 2 brings to the table is the removal of many features that its predecessor had. Score cards, the “You’re on Fire!” system, rank portraits, end-game statistics summaries, less options to show-off, endorsement cards, and personal record stats were all completely removed for seemingly no reason.
Though there have been hints that some features will be included in later patches, it's baffling that Overwatch 2 has been released in this state.
There is a greater conspiracy that these features have been deliberately removed so that players can focus more on their Battle Pass, as the Battle Pass level and progression is the first thing that pops up after a match, so that players feel inclined to purchase it.
Solution:
- Put the beloved features back into the game
1. Marketed as a sequel yet isn't one
Overwatch 2 is marketed as a sequel that comes as a free-to-play package in the classic arena shooter mode, with the PvE content coming in 2023. However, based on what we've seen so far, many fans and critics have expressed their belief that the 5v5 game mode and resulting balance make the game feel more like a massive balance update with PvE DLC than a sequel.
