Games

Overwatch 2’s Biggest Challenge Yet May Be Just a Couple of Days Away

Published

17 hours ago

January 5, 2025

Like many live-service games, Blizzard has had to work hard to maintain the allure and relevancy of Overwatch 2 since its launch in October 2022. The title has found success in the consistent introduction of things like new playable heroes, maps, modes, and seasonal events, with this fresh content being absolutely necessary to fend off the large level of competition that hero shooters share within the gaming industry.

Despite this, there is a worry regarding just how far Overwatch 2 can push this method of content delivery before many fans begin to lose interest, especially with other recent releases like Marvel Rivals taking up a huge amount of the genre’s spotlight. A lot of the current hype around Overwatch 2 is centered around its return to the franchise’s roots with classic gameplay features once again being offered, although this is set to leave the title over the coming days. With Overwatch 2 needing to consolidate itself now more than ever, the game’s largest challenge could be just around the corner.

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One creative Overwatch 2 player reimagines certain heroes as ‘outer space’ beings, showing several fan-favorite characters in a whole new light.

Overwatch 2 Will Need to Deal With Some Huge Blows Over the Coming Days

Overwatch 2 released one of its most eye-catching updates in recent memory back in November with the limited-time launch of Overwatch Classic, which aimed to recreate the iconic metas and gameplay formulas of the original Overwatch, right down to the older ability kits of the franchise’s earliest heroes. Many longstanding multiplayer titles have gone down this route to great success recently, such as Fortnite‘s OG mode, which has gone on to become a permanent staple of the massive battle royale title.

While Overwatch Classic has not been made into a permanent feature as things stand, Blizzard is clearly still open to some of the mode’s most defining elements, such as its 6v6 matches. In order to separate itself from its predecessor, Overwatch 2 famously made the controversial decision to scale down to 5v5 gameplay, something that has always pushed many long-term fans away from the franchise’s latest iteration.

Thanks to the success of Overwatch Classic, Blizzard has been trialing 6v6 gameplay as a main offering of Overwatch 2, with the game trialing 6v6 role queues since December 17. This iteration of 6v6 testing sees each role locked to two players each, with testing set to end on January 7. It is true that another round of 6v6 testing will be added to Overwatch 2 from January 21 to February 4, this time with a more lenient 1–3 players locked per role, although this creates a big down-time period where Overwatch 2 will return to its divisive 5v5 formula.

Marvel Rivals Success Leaves No Resting Room For Overwatch 2

Now more than ever, player retention is a massive issue for Overwatch 2 thanks to the extremely popular launch of Marvel Rivals, another hero shooter that is seriously threatening to compete and extend beyond the reach of Overwatch. While OW2 has been able to shrug off other recent competitors like Sony’s short-lived Concord, the star-power and polished gameplay of Marvel Rivals creates a level of direct competition that Overwatch 2 cannot afford to falter within.

The return to 5v5 gameplay for Overwatch 2, while fairly brief, may be enough to lose a lot of the returning long-time fans who were drawn to the game’s return to originality, leaving the title in a perilous position as Marvel Rivals begins to strengthen itself with its own post-launch content. While Overwatch 2 has done reasonably well to justify the big change away from its predecessor in 2022, the temporary removal of 6v6 testing is shaping up to be the largest challenge that the title may face in a very long time.