Image: Blizzard Entertainment
Blizzard has responded to Overwatch 2’s 150,000 Overwhelmingly Negative reviews on Steam.
It’s safe to say that Overwatch 2 did not have the best launch on Steam last week. After collecting more than 150,000 Overwhelmingly Negative reviews on the platform, Blizzard has acknowledged that users were primarily dissatisfied by, “the cancellation of the much larger component of PvE,” that it, “ultimately couldn’t deliver.”
Overwatch 2’s game director Aaron Keller talked about the Steam launch in his ‘Director’s Take’ blog series, while going over his thoughts on the new season and recent changes to the game. He wrote that, “being review-bombed isn't a fun experience,” but the game is now more accessible to more people than before. After noting that most reviews were centered around the cancellation of PvE Hero Missions, Keller said:
If we can’t turn back the clock, then what can we do? We can keep adding to and improving Overwatch 2. That is how we move forward. This means more maps, heroes, game modes, missions, stories, events, cool cosmetics, and features - an ever-expanding, evolving, and improving game. This is the future of Overwatch. One where we will continually create and innovate on what is making the game great now for the players who are playing now.
The massive review bombing Overwatch 2 has received thus far isn’t something Blizzard can ignore publicly, given that the game has now become Steam’s worst-reviewed game of all time. These reviews don’t fall into the usual ‘this game is broken’ category of user dissatisfaction either; most reviews are calling out the sequel’s greedy monetisation, cancelled Hero Missions and paywalled story content. However, Keller notes that the game’s ‘core players’ are still very happy with the game:
We've heard from many of our core players that the game is in the best state it's ever been, and many have told us that it feels like we're really listening to their feedback and that this season is a culmination of that. It’s so awesome to hear.
Overwatch 2: Invasion launched last week with three story missions, a new Support hero named Illari, a new game mode with two additional maps and a new progression system. John Cena was heavily involved in this season’s marketing, but confusingly had nothing to do with its content at all.