Jeff Kaplan looks back on a year Overwatch and finds his absolute low point – the nerf to Tank D.Va. Nevertheless, he believes the nerf was justified.
Overwatch is celebrating its first birthday and is starting an Anniversary Event in just a few days. At a related event in New York, Game Director Jeff Kaplan spoke not only about the positive aspects but also the negative sides of the past year.
He revealed to Kotaku that the low point of the year was the nerf to D.Va. This point has a little backstory. As the meta shifted, D.Va became increasingly unpopular and ultimately too weak. The developers decided to buff her, making her a real threat. These changes remained active over the Christmas holidays and were still relevant several weeks into 2017.
D.Va was the absolute queen on the battlefield – albeit significantly too strong. However, most players had become accustomed to these changes and knew how to handle them. When the nerf came, which reduced her damage and lowered her armor points, there was a great outcry in the forums. She was now “unplayable” and “no longer a tank”. The threads in the official forums and on Reddit reached into the hundreds. Nevertheless, Kaplan does not regret the changes and believes that D.Va is now in a good position. His personal low point, Kaplan says, was allowing D.Va to be overpowered for too long.
How have you perceived the changes to D.Va over the year? Do you find them acceptable now, or do you still feel the nerf (and therefore won’t even pick her up)?
By the way, Overwatch will be available for free on PC, PS4, and Xbox One for several days.
