Highlights
- Overwatch 2 has received a wave of negative reviews on Steam, with 91% of the reviews being negative, and the majority of these negative reviews coming from Chinese players.
- Chinese players have expressed frustration since Blizzard suspended game services in China due to failed negotiations with Chinese publisher NetEase. Many Chinese players are considering playing Overwatch 2 on global servers via VPN, and 53% would play again if Blizzard relaunched the game with a national server.
- With the release of Overwatch 2 on Steam, Chinese players can technically play again, but the game has still received numerous negative reviews due to ongoing issues and the lack of promised PvE content.
A tweet revealed that most of the negative Overwatch 2 reviews on Steam come from China. Overwatch 2 has returned to the center of the news with the release of Season 6, which also brought another unusual situation to add to the game's record.
Since its launch, Overwatch 2 has experienced issues with bugs, glitches, balancing, and inconsistent matchmaking. With the arrival of Season 6, Overwatch 2 attracted positive attention by adding the new support hero Illari, the Flashpoint mode, and more PvE missions to continue the game's story. Blizzard also released Overwatch 2 on Steam, which has generated a strong wave of negative reviews. And a tweet recently revealed why this has happened.
Industry analyst Daniel Ahmad revealed that the majority of negative Overwatch 2 reviews on Steam come from Chinese players. Ahmad states in his text that with over 100,000 reviews on Steam, 91% of Overwatch 2 reviews are negative. Of the total negative reviews, Ahmad reveals that 2/3 of these reviews, equivalent to 63,000 comments, are written in simplified Chinese. According to him, Chinese reviewers point out the same problems as international players, including the lack of PvE content promised by Overwatch 2, and the price of in-game content. With the wave of negative reviews, Overwatch 2 became the lowest-rated Steam game of all time, surpassing the card game War of the Three Kingdoms, the previous record holder.
Chinese players' frustration began last year when Blizzard suspended game services in China. The decision came as Blizzard failed to reach an amicable agreement with Chinese publisher NetEase. Because of this, most of its games cannot keep operating in the country, and the Chinese lost access to World of Warcraft, Overwatch 2, Starcraft 2, and Hearthstone. In a survey conducted by Ahmad's company, 40% of Chinese players said they were considering playing Overwatch 2 on a global server via VPN. The same survey revealed that 53% of players would play again if Blizzard relaunched Overwatch 2 in China with a national server.
With Overwatch 2's release on Steam, Chinese players can technically play again, accessing Overwatch 2's new progression system and more features. The international version of Steam is accessible in China without a VPN, so it's understandable why Overwatch 2 has gathered so many negative reviews in such a short time. There is no prediction of when Blizzard games will be available in China again. With Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard approved in China, only time will tell if this will be a chance for Overwatch 2 to return to the country.
Overwatch 2 is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
