A lot of exciting as well as controversial news dropped last week during the Overwatch 2 PVP presentation. Of the snippets of content and changes that were revealed, one major divergence from the first Overwatch had the community reeling: the sequel is dropping the standard PVP count from 6V6 to 5V5. This means that instead of running the classic 2-2-2 team composition, teams will be forced to spawn into matches with one tank, two damage heroes, and two supports. This also means that you might have to juggle your party rotations since one person will always be unable to queue in with your team. Consequently, the 5V5 decision is getting a lot of pushback from the Overwatch player base.
According to Esports website Inven Global, fans have drafted a petition on Change.org to sway Blizzard into reverting the big PVP count change. Peter Levy, the Overwatch player that started the position, wrote, “Overwatch has its fair share of issues. Queue times and shield metas have been long-standing problems in Overwatch game design. But switching to 5v5 has no guarantee of fixing these issues, and it will cause harm to the Overwatch community.”
Petitioner Peter Levy would also go on to offer a potential solution too, “Making tanks fun to play, either by making and releasing new tank champions at a faster pace, or by redesigning existing ones, would be a much better way to get more players to play tank, whilst also changing the metagame.” It’s worth noting that Blizzard is planning on adding interesting passive abilities to each role in order to give every hero inherent value on the battlefield. How that will affect day-to-day matches when the game releases remains to be seen.
Imagine spending 5 years to perfect your role…..Just for it to be deleted while knowing your role does not translate to another your expected to give all you got till the end of season (:
— Gator (@Gator_OW) May 20, 2021
Moreover, this also affects the Overwatch League as professional teams will likely have to consolidate their rosters since only one tank is required. Blake “Gator” Scott, a main tank player for the Atlanta Reign and a founding member of the dreaded GOATS team composition, took to Twitter to voice his concerns, “Imagine spending 5 years to perfect your role…..Just for it to be deleted….”
How do you feel about the 5V5 change? Had you considered all of the implications of what this will mean for the future of professional and casual Overwatch 2 play?
[Source: Inven Global]
Source: Game Informer
