One of the biggest changes made by Blizzard to Overwatch 2 is the switch from 6v6 matches to 5v5. However, a sizable amount of fans of the original game remained vocal about reintroducing 6v6 in some form, and the developers are taking that feedback seriously.
Today, Game Director Aaron Keller explained the hurdles it'll have to overcome first. The first and biggest reason is the need to do this in a way that allows the game to have optimized technical performance with 12 players in a match: a number of upgrades and additions to Overwatch 2 impact the game's performance. In a 6v6 setting, these upgrades can significantly impact players using older systems.
While a time-limited Overwatch 2 test could come sooner, the team is still investigating exactly how long it would take to permanently improve performance across the entire game. This endeavor will likely take at least several seasons, said Blizzard.
Another issue is what to do with queue times, which was the main reason for switching from 6v6 to 5v5 in the first place. They have some ideas, but there's no guarantee they'll work. Moreover, Blizzard understandably wishes to make sure that those who enjoy the game as it is today are not frustrated by these attempts to reintroduce 6v6.
The current objective is to run a test for a few weeks and gauge the community's interest. Then, the developers would measure its impact on the other experiences in Overwatch 2, like 5v5, arcade, etc. They'd use the lessons from that playtest to see what could be learned about the mode within the current game ecosystem and for the future of the franchise. They would carefully ponder on the learnings from each test and how they can best give players what they want. Whether that's a 5v5 world, a 6v6 world, or both will be figured out in the future.
In other Overwatch 2 news, the first Mythic weapon skin was released earlier this week, giving Reinhardt fans a cool new cosmetic to purchase.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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