Highlights
- Overwatch 2's recent update, Season 6: Invasion, introduced permanent PvE missions, a new hero, game mode, and maps, but the game was review bombed on Steam, becoming the lowest-ranked game overnight.
- Overwatch 2 game director Aaron Keller acknowledged the negative reviews and expressed optimism about the future of both PvP and PvE content, promising to continue adding and improving the game. However, some players remain unsatisfied.
- Despite the criticism, Overwatch 2 has a thriving community and more active players than Overwatch 1 due to being more approachable and free-to-play.
Overwatch 2’s game director recently responded to the review bombing caused by the Blizzard shooter’s debut on Steam. Though it is not doing well on Steam right now, Overwatch 2 seems optimistic towards its future.
Recently, Overwatch 2 released Season 6: Invasion. This massive update brought the first full, permanent PvE missions to the game, added a new hero, game mode, and maps, and featured Overwatch 2’s debut on Steam. However, the FPS was quickly review bombed by fans, with Overwatch 2 becoming the lowest-ranked game on the platform overnight.
Now, Overwatch 2 game director Aaron Keller has made an official statement on the poor Steam reviews in a recent post. “Being review bombed isn't a fun experience,” Keller said, “but it’s been great to see lots of new players jump into Overwatch 2 for the first time.” He went on to mention that many of the criticisms on Steam were due to downscaling of Overwatch 2’s PvE content. While he recognized the justified frustration on their failure to deliver on that promise, Keller spoke optimistically about the future of both PvP and PvE in Overwatch 2.
Though Overwatch 2’s reviews on Steam are less than admirable, the shooter still has a very active community. According to activeplayer.io, Overwatch 2 saw consistent, steep growth in playership from its launch last October through February 2023. Most months since then have seen a slight decline in activity in Overwatch 2, but its population has remained mostly stable since then. Despite criticism, Overwatch 2 has more people playing it today than Overwatch 1 ever did. This is likely due to the game being more approachable than its predecessor, and because it is now free to play.
Even so, plenty of players are not happy with Overwatch 2, and Keller’s remarks did little to calm their anger. Many accused the developer’s words to be empty, and that because it gave no concrete details, the apology meant nothing. Given the circumstances, it seems like Overwatch 2 would need nothing short of a miracle to regain the good faith of these players.
That said, Keller’s claim that Overwatch 2 is “in the best state it’s ever been” seems to ring true. Response to Overwatch 2: Invasion has been mostly positive, with much of its core player base enjoying the PvE missions as well as the new PvP maps and game mode. Season 6 was the official end of Overwatch 2’s Early Access period, and plenty of players are eager to see what the future holds. Its reviews on Steam may say otherwise, but now really is a great time for players to try out Overwatch 2 if they haven’t already.
Overwatch 2 is out now for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: Activeplayer.io
