In Overwatch, players will not be able to host their own servers – that right is reserved by Blizzard.
All power to Blizzard
It shouldn’t surprise anyone anymore, but Overwatch will also require a permanent internet connection to play. This is more than understandable for a multiplayer shooter, but some fans were probably hoping for the possibility to host their own servers to be able to run the game at LAN parties.
Blizzard has now confirmed that all servers will be provided by them and players can only play on official servers. This has the great advantage that no one has to suffer from the disadvantages that private hosting of games brings with it: In games like Left 4 Dead 2, the loser could simply shut down the server – that had little to do with fair play. At the same time, the risk of above-average high latencies is avoided when everyone has to connect to Blizzard. Last but not least, game manipulation can largely be prevented and any “mods” will probably be categorically excluded.
Nevertheless, there will be ways to create your own games with your own rules and invite only friends to a round. If you don’t feel like competing with supposed “randos”, you don’t have to take that risk – but you should have a large friends list.
