Overwatch 2’s arrival on Steam has been anything but smooth. The hero-based shooter has rocketed to the ignominious distinction of becoming Steam’s worst-rated game of all time, overthrowing War of the Three Kingdoms and Flatout. Its rapid descent began on August 10. A few days later, enough of the community had voiced its overwhelming dissatisfaction for Overwatch 2 to gain such infamy.
Overwatch 2, despite its rocky start, did manage to garner over 75,000 concurrent players soon after release. However, a staggering 91% of the game’s reviews on Steam were negative, drawing fire for its monetization model and a perceived lack of community moderation.
Fans felt duped, calling it the “biggest cash grab of the 21st century” and even christening it “Overwatch 1.5” because of its resemblance to the original. As one player eloquently put it, Overwatch 2 seems more like an attempt “to pry open your wallet” than to provide a genuinely improved gaming experience.
Interestingly, a significant portion of the backlash to Overwatch 2 originated from Chinese players. The termination of Blizzard’s agreement with NetEase, which led to the shutdown of Blizzard games in China earlier in January, resulted in Chinese players losing access to their accounts and the ability to play on a national server. The game’s debut on Steam became an outlet for these frustrated fans to voice their opinions on an international platform. With a majority of the negative reviews in simplified Chinese, players also reported slow logins and poor connections.
Blizzard’s attempt to reinvigorate the game with the Invasion update didn’t do much to change its fortunes either. The update was released on the same day as its Steam debut, introducing sweeping changes to maps, meta, and even game modes, including the much-anticipated PvE. The update also provided a new competitive game mode, a fresh hero, and an assortment of new maps. Yet, these additions were overshadowed by the overwhelming sentiment of disappointment.
Roping in WWE superstar, John Cena, to play the role of the mysterious hacker, The Enigma, didn’t help at all. The allure of celebrity couldn’t divert attention from the game’s controversies.
Overwatch 2’s monetization strategy has been the crux of all the criticism. With the game’s transition to a free-to-play model, much of its content was locked behind paywalls, forcing players to shell out more money for features that were once free. This move was perceived as a betrayal, especially when previously promised PvE content was scrapped. The sentiment echoed across Steam’s review section, with players lamenting Blizzard’s lack of respect for its fanbase and the overall degradation of the game over time.
Blizzard, known for its gaming masterpieces, finds itself in a quandary. It’s not just about salvaging Overwatch 2 but the problem lies in regaining as well as retaining the trust of the consumers.
It’s an uphill battle for Blizzard from here as it navigates this controversial storm. Just a year after courting disaster with Diablo Immortal, it faces the same problems with Overwatch 2 and Diablo 4. Perhaps some of the criticism aimed at, not the development team, but the executives making the decisions, are valid.
They say where there’s smoke, there’s fire, and the scathing comments from the communities of various games from the same company are telling of a bigger problem that needs to be addressed.
Only time will tell if Blizzard will listen and rise from these ashes or if this will remain a cautionary tale for developers all over the world.
