Of all the changes made in the transition from Overwatch 1 to 2, the move from 6v6 battles to 5v5 was undoubtedly one of its most controversial. And now developer Blizzard Entertainment has confirmed its’s revisiting that decision, exploring if and how 6v6 matches could be re-introduced to Overwatch 2 in a series of upcoming tests.
All this is detailed in a blog from Overwatch 2 director Aaron Keller, who begins by explaining exactly why the move to 5v5 was made in the first place. “The world of 6v6 could have really high, highs,” he writes, “but reaaaally low, lows. One of the design goals of 5v5 was to try to raise that floor, even though it was at the expense of some of some of those high moments.”
As such, 5v5 was chosen to increase individual agency, to better balance the impact each class can have in a match, to make the experience more “cognitively manageable, and – perhaps most significantly of all – to alleviate extremely long queue times. “Players generally queue Tank less,” continues Keller, “leading to longer wait times for all while we wait for a Tank to free up to find a proper match.” And with Overwatch 2 requiring one rather than two tanks in competitive play, average wait times for damage and support characters are now “much shorter”.
Despite these improvements, Keller acknowledges that some of the changes made to Overwatch over the years have come “at the cost of match variety and player freedom”, and that the team gets feedback from players saying the experience can feel “the same” from game to game. Which brings us to Blizzard’s future plans. Keller says that, based on player feedback, the studio is now looking to run a series of events that’ll enable it to “try out different core team composition formats”.
“Because we operate as a service to our players,” he continues, “we always remain open-minded to re-evaluating our decisions based on your actions and feedback, to give you the best game experience we can. Rather than introduce a disruptive, permanent change to the game, we’d prefer to explore the space further and make changes based on that exploration.”
One reason for this cautiousness is technical performance. Keller says Blizzard has taken advantage of the reduced technical overheads in 5v5 matches to introduce upgrades and additions – ranging from allied outlines to more technically demanding hero kits – that will likely result in lower performance on older machines if 6v6 is re-introduced. Remedying this is expected to take “at least several seasons”. Additionally, the studio needs to be “openly mindful not to frustrate” those players who’ve only ever experienced – and like – 5v5, and that’s even before considering the queue issues that might resurface if 6v6 proves popular.
“We would reflect carefully on the learnings from whatever test we run,” Keller adds, “and explore how to best give players what’s being asked for. Whether that’s a world of 5v5, 6v6 or even both, is for future us to figure out.”
Keller also believes at least some of Overwatch’s perceived sameyness isn’t actually to do with team sizes, but rather the composition of those teams – and so it’ll also be re-examining “the ways we tried solving previous problems… We think there could be other ways of putting a team together that aren’t quite as rigid as a set composition, but not as loose as Open Queue.” To that end, Season 13 will feature “at least one Quick Play: Hacked based on this idea”.
“This isn’t the last time we’re going to be getting into 5v5 or 6v6, and we can’t wait to share more about our plans in the future,” Keller concludes. “In closing, we appreciate you so much, and we love seeing your passion and dedication.”
Overwatch 2’s 13th season is expected to get underway in October, but first there’s Season 12, which’ll introduce new space ranger hero Juno when it arrives on 20th August.