Overwatch 2 debuted on Steam last week and promptly became the worst-rated game on the entire platform after little more than three days. It was a monumental failure for Activision Blizzard, even if the overwhelmingly negative reviews were driven by ‘review bombers’. It’s not a good look, and it’s indicative of the displeasure of the Overwatch community at large.
Despite that controversy, Activision Blizzard’s employees remain optimistic about the future of Overwatch 2, which was released late last year with an all-new free-to-play operating model. In a statement, Aaron Keller, the Director of Overwatch 2, acknowledged the paltry performance of Overwatch 2 on Steam but spoke highly of the game’s outlook.
Will Overwatch 2 Be Saved by Sheer Optimism?
At present, Overwatch boasts 152,850 reviews on Steam, 91% of which are negative. It’s a remarkable thing, but there are some malicious reasons as to why that number is so high.
Regardless, the game’s director, Aaron Keller, went on record far and wide disputing the failure of Overwatch 2. He first addressed the well-publicised failure of Blizzard to deliver on previously promised player-vs-environment content:
Many of the reviews on Steam mention the cancellation of the much larger component of PvE that was announced in 2019 as one of their primary reasons for dissatisfaction with the game. I get that. That announcement was about an ambitious project that we ultimately couldn’t deliver.
He stressed that it’s not possible to turn back time, but that the team is intent on improving Overwatch 2 over time, essentially overlooking the negative reviews on Steam and continuing to roll out updates as planned – including new stories, cosmetics, features, and game modes.
There was a positive sentiment shared by Keller, though:
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 may have been review-bombed, but Keller was quick to highlight that many new players had jumped onto the Overwatch 2 platform since the game was released on Steam, so… Every cloud, and all that.
Are you still playing Overwatch 2?
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