Jeff Kaplan talks about the upcoming competitive mode in Overwatch and the design philosophy behind it.
For as many as possible, but not for everyone
The Game Director of Overwatch, Jeff Kaplan, addresses the burning issues of the community in a new “Developer Update” and this time particularly focuses on the requested ranked mode. Finally, he briefly discusses the expectations that the beta has triggered in some fans.
The competitive mode of Overwatch is an important concern for many players. However, Kaplan mentions that the implementation is not so straightforward, as players’ expectations for such a mode differ. There are the competitive players who simply want to know who “the best player in the world” is, and on the other side, those who just want a little more order than in “Quick Play”.
It is impossible to please all players, which is why expectations are tempered: There is no concrete, detailed plan yet, but the goal is to address as many players as possible. Even those who will not be satisfied with the system should at least understand why Blizzard has taken these steps.
Another issue is the necessary organization that one would expect in competitive games. Should the competitive mode be open only to full groups of 6 players, or should there also be a matchmaking feature, similar to Quick Match? There are still no answers to all these questions. However, the intention is to keep players updated.
The competitive mode is currently in development, but it will likely not be available at the game’s release; instead, it will be added in a later update – at least that was the last statement on this topic.
Will the beta get even bigger?
Kaplan emphasizes that the beta of Overwatch was intended to be a “traditional” beta from the beginning, which may have created false expectations that many players would join the beta. At this time, it is simply not possible to support all players who want to participate in the beta with the current server structure.
In the future, they want to “see what else can be done”, which raises hopes that perhaps many more players will be invited. In the worst-case scenario, they say fans will have to wait until the release in spring. The coming weeks will surely provide more information.
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