Earlier this year, Overwatch shook things up: It dropped the 2, it dropped five heroes at once, and it dropped more story than it’s ever had. Blizzard kickstarted a new era for the live service hero shooter almost 10 years after its debut, a plan that was partially inspired by the explosive success of Marvel Rivals.
When Marvel Rivals landed in late 2024, the Overwatch team saw it as the first direct competitor it had in years. As Rivals’ player counts skyrocketed and the comparisons to Overwatch took over social media, Blizzard knew something had to change.
In a recent group interview with PC Gamer, Overwatch GM and SVP of Blizzard Walter Kong admitted Marvel Rivals’ success “scared us a bit.” The boundless enthusiasm for NetEase’s crude hero designs prompted the team to “be less risk averse because we felt that if we stayed conservative then we’re definitely going to feel some of the competitive pressure.”
The first product of this reset came in the form of in-match perks introduced to core modes. Then came Stadium, a round-based mode with MOBA-style powers and builds, soon after.
While there were certainly concerns from players about the amount of sudden change, Overwatch was more vibrant and enjoyable than it’d been in years. Rapid patches to Stadium and perks, as well as regular communication from game director Aaron Keller, helped assure players that nothing broken or unfair would last very long. This was also around the time I would regularly see people in Reddit threads and on social media saying that Overwatch was finally back.
It took another year for Blizzard to overhaul some internal processes—primarily the time it takes to create new heroes—so that it could maintain this new, faster pace. Now, the plan is to kick off every new year with something huge, like releasing five heroes all at once. It also includes constant updates to the story and a new hero every season.
Whether or not Marvel Rivals sparked any of these specific ideas, it seems to have made Blizzard far less concerned about tainting the spirit of Overwatch. Nothing about it feels like it’ll be left stagnant for too long. Several old maps and heroes have major reworks on the way, and fan-favorite features, like post-match accolades, have already made a return.
Things are going well: Season 1 saw one of the highest player counts Overwatch has had since the sequel was released in 2022. Players are busy speculating on who the next hero will be and if it’ll be a recognizable face from the lore (it sure seems like it). And Doja Cat hopped onto a stream to settle the debate and proclaim that she thinks Overwatch is better than Marvel Rivals (she’s correct).
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