Overwatch 2’s future will be unveiled in an upcoming showcase that Blizzard Entertainment said will feature “groundbreaking PvP gameplay changes,” hew heroes, and more. And it’s already got gamers talking.
When news broke about the Overwatch 2 Spotlight stream, reactions quickly came pouring in from the game’s devoted community, and even those who may have strayed away from Blizzard’s universe for a while.
“In 2025, Overwatch 2 is going to be packed with groundbreaking changes to the PvP experience that will be unlike anything you’ve seen before, but it’s going to take more than a blog or a developer update to let you know what we have coming this year,” Blizzard said of the stream, leading to many gamers chiming in with their thoughts.
“They disappointed us many times since OW2 released, but there’s a traitorous part of me that can’t help but get excited at this,” one Reddit commenter said, while others prognosticated what the groundbreaking changes may be, and one commenter replied that they “give it a 90 percent chance of being a talent/perk system.”
While OW2 has taken a backseat for many gamers in recent years, especially with a direct competitor like Marvel Rivals exploding in popularity, the reactions have been across the spectrum. But there are many who are still hyped to tune in and see what Blizzard is cooking.
The response has been pretty mixed overall, as can be seen by perusing the replies to the announcement, with seemingly just as many players excited to learn more as there are those who have lost faith in Blizzard over the years and are expecting next to nothing from the Spotlight showcase.
When OW2 was first revealed at BlizzCon 2019, it featured a perk system for the game’s scrapped PvE mode, allowing players to customize heroes and their abilities in ways that the base game does not. The pivot away from PvE turned all of the focus on PvP, and since that’s specifically what Blizzard mentioned in the announcement, it’s doubtful that a revived PvE game type will be included in the showcase.
Since then, the game has lost favor with many players. With a focus on store content and battle passes, less varied content than initially planned, and many missing six-vs-six over the new game’s five-vs-five format, it’s certainly bled some players—although many remain loyal to the brand.
With Blizzard going out of its way to call this stream anything more than just a road map of future content, the changes will have to be drastic, so it’s likely not only a return to six-vs-six gameplay, either, even though that’s what many players are expecting. Whatever is being worked on has to be game-changing, otherwise all of this verbose language about the stream will have been for nothing.
Keep in mind that last year, also in February, OW2’s season nine launched with a big re-work of how hero health and projectiles functioned. This year’s “yearly shake-up” patch will have to be just as big of a change, if not more so.
Honestly, though, the mention of new heroes and maps is enough to get OW2 players to tune in to see what’s coming. But the hype around this stream and Blizzard’s promotion of it is probably more aimed at getting players to return to the action instead.
The world will could always use more heroes, and the world will know more about what’s in store when the OW2 Spotlight stream broadcasts on Wednesday, Feb. 12, at 12pm CT.
Published: Jan 29, 2025 05:35 pm