Overwatch 2 fans now know what Season 4’s hero will be like, and many are certainly interested to see how he will shake up the meta. Lifeweaver’s kit features a few abilities that can lead to some serious trolling or an epic play, and he could be a lot of fun to watch in high level matches. With lore ties to Symmetra sure to result in interesting dialogue, many are looking forward to the character’s debut once Season 4 begins. Clearly, Blizzard has not run out of creative ideas for the hero roster, but it may end up in that position down the line.
Both in terms of gameplay and groups that still need to be represented, Blizzard has plenty of areas to explore. Gameplay-wise, Support heroes that help their team in ways other than healing - like with Lifeweaver’s Life Grip ability - are something the game needs more of. A spy or Necromancer Overwatch 2 hero could also be appealing, while representation for Italian fans and an openly trans character would be welcome too. However, as it continues to add characters, Blizzard will have to be careful that the game does not become stuffed with too many characters.
Overwatch 2 May End Up With Too Many Heroes
One excellent thing about hero additions is how they can shake up Overwatch 2’s meta, as even one character can completely change the way that some matches are played. After all, it takes one look at Sojourn or Kiriko and their impacts on the casual and competitive scenes to realize how meaningful just one addition can be. As time goes on, though, Blizzard may start to run into overly complex metas that are far too hard to manage.
There are already over 30 heroes in Overwatch 2, which require a lot of careful attention on Blizzard’s part if the developer wants the entire roster to be viable. Between making minor tweaks in patches to occasional ability reworks in larger updates to tracking analytics, the developer has its hands full. This could be part of the reason that changes like Brigitte’s Ultimate rework or Roadhog’s significant ability changes have been taking so long, as they are just a few characters out of the dozens that Blizzard has to keep track of.
Overwatch 2 has a plan in place to add two to three heroes every year, and assuming Blizzard sticks to this plan for over a decade like it hopes to, fans are going to see the roster growing far larger as time goes on. This will only make the game harder to balance, with certain overpowered characters possibly slipping through the cracks and staying too strong for longer than they would right now. Alternatively, weak characters could go entire seasons without getting the buffs they need, as Blizzard may struggle to give every hero the proper amount of attention.
The larger the roster gets, the harder it could be for Blizzard to make changes when it needs to, which may end up being a massive problem for the hero shooter. However, there are other drawbacks to consider. One is that Blizzard could simply run out of ideas for fully unique heroes like Lifeweaver, falling into an unfortunate trap where characters are released that feel too similar to ones that are already in the game. Another is that players - especially newcomers trying Overwatch 2 for the first time - could be overwhelmed by an even larger roster of characters. While a better Overwatch 2 tutorial would help ease new players into the game, experienced fans could still find it difficult to learn how to play with and against so many potential character combos.
As exciting as it is when a new hero is added to Overwatch 2, slowing down the additions in a few years’ time may be the right move. Once this happens, Blizzard could focus more on growing PvP game modes like Push through the addition of several maps, or adding larger batches of content to Overwatch 2’s upcoming PvE mode. While dropping 2-3 heroes a year is sustainable for now, it may not be in half a decade, with a switch to just one hero a year possibly being the best route to take. Though wanting less heroes in Overwatch 2 may seem like an odd request to make, in several years there may just be too many characters for both players and developers to handle.
Overwatch 2 is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
