Overwatch 2 support heroes will change in response to beta feedback
Revised abilities and new heroes
Overwatch 2's first beta test has been ticking along for a week now, and Blizzard have written a response to the feedback. It's almost relentlessly peppy, but there are details in there covering why things are the way they are, and how they'll be changing in future updates.
"The main goals for our first Beta were to test our shift to 5v5, the new maps and Push game mode, overall balance, and build and server stability", begins the post. "We believe 5v5 is a significant adjustment for players, and we have been happy to hear consistent and positive feedback about players having more fun, feeling a greater sense of impact in their matches, and enjoying a faster pace of combat and engagements. While we will continue to adjust the rules of Push, players seem to be really enjoying this new game mode and our other new maps."
It seems that support classes are in need of more work. The post acknowledges that there has been less appetite from players to choose support characters, leading to increased queue times for tank and damage players. The issue isn't balance, Blizzard say, with support characters performing well, "but we know that balance is only one aspect of what makes a hero fun to play. We have heard clearly that support players feel both tanks and damage players have more new content to enjoy and explore in this Beta."
Their solution is to add "exciting new support heroes" in future updates, and in the shorter term to experiment with new abilities for existing support characters.
The rest of the post deals with Overwatch 2's new scoreboard, which ditches the old medals in favour of specific stats about player performance.
Our own Liam has had a go over the beta and found Overwatch 2 feels a bit too much like Overwatch 1 for his taste, but we'll have more in-depth thoughts soon.