The director of Overwatch 2 has said it was a “mistake” to reveal a controversial new self-healing mechanic coming to all characters in the hero shooter “out of context.”
Last week, developer Blizzard unveiled seismic changes coming to Overwatch 2 as part of Season 9, none more disruptive than giving both Tank and Damage heroes a “modified, tuned-down version of the Support self-healing passive.”
Overwatch game director Aaron Keller explained the decision in a blog post on Blizzard’s website:
“This should give non-Support players more options in terms of sustaining themselves. It should also take some of the pressure off Support players to keep everyone alive since individual players now have more control of their own health pool. In Overwatch, there is a constant tug of war between the power of a team and the power of an individual hero or player. A change like this shifts that balance a bit. This is something that we are constantly evaluating. We still want Overwatch to be defined by team strategy and mechanics, but we feel this can be pulled back a bit now and possibly more in the future.”
The announcement sparked a vociferous debate within the Overwatch community, with some complaining that it risked devaluing the team play that has defined Overwatch’s competitive multiplayer since day one, and could make Support characters useless or Tank and Damage heroes overpowered.
Responding to the response, Keller tweeted to issue a clarification around the self-heal announcement.
“It’s one part of a much larger set of changes coming to the game in S9,” Keller said. “Internally we’re talking about, and targeting some of these changes at damage spikiness in game, the role of DPS in securing kills, and the strength of healing.
“It was a mistake to talk about this lone change out of context, since it’s a part of a much bigger set coming to Season 9. Sorry for that, and I look forward to more discussion around S9 balance changes when we drop more details.”
Keller’s clarification has done little to calm Overwatch’s concerned community, which has to contend with a number of controversies during Overwatch 2’s short life. Last month, executive producer Jared Neuss said Blizzard was “actively working towards” giving away new heroes to all players, not just those who buy a premium battle pass, in what would amount to a major shakeup of the free-to-download game’s monetisation model. Overwatch 2 currently only allows new heroes to be acquired instantly if players buy the premium battle pass at 1,000 Overwatch Coins, which costs $10.
Indeed, monetisation has been a controversial topic within Overwatch 2 since its launch in October 2022, as highlighted by its Steam release becoming the platform’s worst reviewed game of all time.
Blizzard was also heavily criticised when Overwatch 2 launched as it forced its premium predecessor to update into a free-to-play sequel, rendering the original Overwatch unplayable. Blizzard also cancelled Overwatch 2’s long-awaited PvE Hero mode — the one feature, players said, that justified the sequel’s existence.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.