Blizzard admits competitive Overwatch needs changes—but don’t expect to see them soon

Overwatch 2 game director Aaron Keller addressed numerous issues with the game’s ranked mode today in his Director’s Take blog post on the official OW website. And while he expressed sympathy for frustrated players, he stopped short of saying that a lot of changes are coming quickly.

Referencing a YouTube video by the content creator Eskay that outlines numerous ways in which the Overwatch 2 ranked system is problematic, Keller admitted his team is working to fix a lot of the issues players have with the current system. But we won’t see many of those changes come to the game for a little while.

“I agree with a lot of what has been said—and I want to share a glimpse into what the development team is thinking and the direction that we’re likely to go with Competitive in the future,” Keller said. “The team has been working on changes to our Competitive mode for some time, but moderate to major changes to the mode won’t find their way into the game until sometime down the road. I won’t be able to address every issue that people are discussing in this piece, but I would like to address some of the major ones.”

Keller was quick to note that a lack of transparency that previously existed in the original iteration of Overwatch seems to be a sticking point for many players. Instances of players getting demoted after winning more games than they lost certainly feel bad for those players, and that’s something the devs intend on fixing.

“Some feedback we’ve heard about the current system is that you’re not pleased with how much information about the match, and your progress is hidden from you,” Keller said. “Going forward, we’re shifting our values to provide more transparency to the mode. This doesn’t necessarily mean that the older skill rating measurement is or isn’t coming back. As we continue to iterate on the possibilities, we very much appreciate your continued feedback. We want you to have a better understanding of what your true rank is and why wins and losses cause it to move up or down based on the general skill level of all players in a match.”

While the post in its 1,000-plus word entirety came across as understanding and apologetic, it still lacked clarity on exactly what players should expect and when they can expect it. So it certainly seems like Blizzard wants to do right by players, but until we get dates and specifics on changes, the comments feel like lip service for gamers who have been annoyed with ranked Overwatch for some time.