Summary
After years of development,Overwatch 2came out with a whole new approach to the hero shooter that first hit the market in 2016. Although the game initially promised expanded PvE content, the most significant change from the originalOverwatchwas the sequel’s team size;Blizzard had done away with 6v6in favor of a smaller 5v5 format. This necessitated roster-wide balance changes, particularly to the tank role, which went from two dedicated slots on the team to one. Other characters received buffs/nerfs to ensure that they weren’t dealing and healing too much damage.
With such widespread changes hitting the game, it came as a shock to some players when Blizzard recently announced it was reintroducing 6v6 in a testing capacity. With this type of test going on, it’s clear that the devs are playing with the idea of bringingOverwatch 2back to its roots. But despite the team’s best intentions, reverting the format to 6v6 could be a massive controversy in more ways than one.
6v6 is Balancing Nightmare For the Current Overwatch 2 Meta
Tanks Have Already Been Extensively Rebalanced for 5v5
Calling 6v6 a “meta shakeup” is putting it lightly. It’s more akin to an earthquake that’ll break the Richter scale. As of now,everyOverwatch 2tank is a force to be reckoned with, as they are the only source of damage mitigation a team can have under the 5v5 system. Bringing back the second tank slot means that every single tank needs to be brought way back down in terms of power, closer to what they were in the originalOverwatch.
This means dialing back their damage, health, utility, and maybe even tweaking aspects of their kits outright.Roadhog in particular required a significant balance changeafter the swap to 5v5. While his hook combo was balanced for an off-tank in 6v6, his pick potential was too high for 5v5, and he needed to be changed.
The return of the off-tank will give characters like Roadhog, D.Va, Junker Queen, and Wrecking Ball the chance to have more unique play styles more true to their kit designs, rather than needing to fill the role of damage sponges like Reinhardt, Orisa, or Zarya. While this is great for the long term, the first 6–12 months after the change is going to be a balancing nightmare to get these characters back to their proper states.
Removing 5v5 Breaks One of The Key Promises of Overwatch 2
There’s no point dancing around the elephant in the room: without 5v5, there’s little reason forOverwatch 2to exist. Ostensibly, the idea behind ending support for the originalOverwatchwas toadd PvE content viaOverwatch 2and reduce the size of matches to a more manageable 5v5. The original game went into maintenance mode for years while the community awaited these supposedly big changes.
It’s been less than a year sinceOverwatch 2’s official launch.Overwatch 2PvE is a shadow of what was initially promised, and the developers are courting the idea of returning to the 6v6 format. Effectively, the only meaningful change to the game was the removal of the old monetization and cosmetic system in favor of the current model with more microtransactions and battle passes. The community is not blind to this, and it’s one of the main talking points against the return of 6v6. Walking back such a change would be a concession that the move toOverwatch 2was a mistake, and that the game languished in maintenance mode for years for no real reason.
The community is currently split right down the middle on the return of 6v6. Some are more than ready to return to the format they enjoyed so much in 2016 and others are apprehensive about uprooting the entire balance of the game in favor of returning to a more nostalgic time.Overwatch 2’s 6v6 mode is just in a trial run for now, so only time will tell if and when 6v6 ever makes its return to Blizzard’s flagship hero shooter.
