Overwatch will make drastic changes to improve eSports. In the future, heroes will be banned and there will be many more changes to the balance.
Looking at the criticism from Overwatch players, there is one point that is repeatedly mentioned: Changes to the balance happen too infrequently, leading to a stagnation of the meta.
For weeks and months, you see the same hero combinations in ranked mode, which leads to frustration and boredom. But Overwatch wants to change that and plans radical measures.
Where does the information come from? Blizzard has released a new “Developer Update,” with the video currently listed as “Unlisted” on YouTube. It can only be accessed via the direct link.
In the video, Jeff Kaplan, the Game Director of Overwatch, talks about two major changes that are supposed to take place in the live version of Overwatch in the coming weeks:
- Hero Pools
- “Experimental” mode
Blizzard bans heroes, not players
What are hero pools? Starting with Season 21, the March season of Overwatch, Blizzard wants to introduce hero pools. This means that certain heroes will not be available in ranked mode and cannot be selected by players.
This hero pool is supposed to change weekly, so that all players will have to forgo their mains regularly and will be forced to try out new strategies.
This will also apply to the Overwatch League – even if some think it is dying. After all, some important people from the Overwatch League are leaving.
However: Jeff Kaplan also emphasizes that this change could be reversed if it does not achieve the desired success. Currently, however, they are confident that this will increase the fun of the game and bring more excitement to the league and competitive matches.
Experiments to shake up the meta
What is the experimental mode? Occasionally, Overwatch wants to add an “Experimental” card to the selection of game modes. These are changes that the developers are experimenting with. For example, there could be balance changes to heroes or adjustments to existing game modes that are not yet live in other modes.
The goal here is to make “aggressive changes to shake up the meta before it can stagnate”. They are directly implementing player feedback here.
Basically, this is a variation of the PTR (which still exists) with the advantage that all players can participate and discuss the changes. Additionally, you can earn loot boxes normally in the experimental mode, which could be an additional incentive to try out the changes.
The tested changes in the experimental mode could be quite drastic and will not always make it into the live version of the game. As the name suggests, they want to experiment here and gather a lot of player feedback.
These innovations should also be active in Overwatch 2 if they are well received.
Overwatch is changing its direction: The planned changes are quite drastic. Previously, the developers said that they would never want to ban certain heroes. A hero pool is now just that – a ban system established by Blizzard and not by the players themselves.
What do you think of the planned changes? The perfect solution to keep Overwatch fresh? Or does it need even more drastic cuts?
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