Blizzard has revealed a bunch of new details about the upcoming sequel to Overwatch 2. We’ve known from the first reveal that there will be a major PvE (co-op) component in the hero shooter sequel.
But last week, in a near-3-hour developer livestream, Blizzard has shown the vast changes coming to PvP for Overwatch 2. The first big change is a move from 6v6 to 5v5 multiplayer.
“Overwatch has always been played with two teams of six players, Overwatch 2 will be played with two teams of five players consisting of two support, two DPS and one tank,” Aaron Keller from the Overwatch team (Game Director), said in the opening few minutes of the livestream.
“Overwatch has changed over time. We’ve gone from no hero limits at all in the game before launch. You could pick six Winstons if you wanted to,” Keller added. Since the launch in 2016, Overwatch’s freeform team composition has grown more structured. Now there are hero limits and role locks.
The main reasoning for this shift to 5v5, something Keller describes as “the next step Overwatch is meant to be played” is so players have an easier time keeping up with the game, making it simpler. With two players less, the dev team reckons players can make better decisions during play as a result.
Not only that, the move to 5v5 also comes with the limit of one tank per team, something the dev team highlights a lot. Tanks in Overwatch has slews of “noisy” abilties that can make it annoying to play against, especially when they are stacked together, like having to fight two main tanks.
The one tank limit is served to reduce such problems, and hopefully give any player in the five-person team the ability to carry.
As a result, all the tanks in Overwatch 2 will have changes to their kit from what they had in Overwatch, especially the off-tanks. Winston now has an alt-fire that shoots at a range to complement his short-range electric beam. Zarya has two charges of the bubble shield to give to allies.
It’s a massive change, to the point that even at this stage of development, not all the heroes are ready to be shown off for now.
Overwatch 2 has shown PvP before this, with the normal 6v6 style. So this is a mid-development change. The team experimented with various team number and composition before settling with 5v5.
The livestream also shows plenty of new maps coming to Overwatch 2, including New York City, Rio and Monte Carlo. Yes, the glitz and glamour of the principality, famous for car racing and casinos, is represented here in Overwatch 2. You’ll be pushing a sort-of Formula 1 car-shaped payload through a version of the Loews hairpin. But the other way around- you’re pushing it upwards on a steep incline.
Overwatch 2 has no release date yet.