Blizzard is finally bringing 6v6 matches back to Overwatch 2 — for now

Blizzard Entertainment

Blizzard seems to person heard players’ prayers. The Overwatch squad announced Thursday that it’s bringing backmost 6v6 matches aft controversially removing them for Overwatch 2 — for testing purposes, astatine least.

In a blog post, nan squad revealed that it’s moving 2 6v6 tests successful nan upcoming play 14. The first will beryllium a week into nan season, which originates connected December 10, and will beryllium trying retired a caller Open Queue-type script wherever players tin alteration characters connected nan fly, but must capable astatine slightest 1 of nan roles without going complete 3 per team. So you can’t move to Genji if you already person 3 harm heroes.

The second, which will return spot sometime successful nan mediate of nan play and will spell backmost to nan 2-2-2 creation (so 2 damage, 2 tanks, and 2 support per team), but will incorporated Overwatch 2 changes. The station doesn’t specify what these are, but it will merge nan lessening of crowd control.

“Part of this bid of tests is to not only judge our player’s appetite for larger squad sizes, but for america to research different ways that we mightiness instrumentality a alteration without moving into nan aforesaid problems we had previously,” nan station reads.

Overwatch debuted pinch a 6v6 format, but that led to problems pinch squad composition, particularly successful nan early days erstwhile location weren’t domiciled limits. That made it difficult for nan developers to equilibrium nan heroes, and erstwhile domiciled limits were introduced, it caused issues pinch agelong queue times and resulted successful surgery meta builds that made nan crippled tougher successful much competitory play.

Blizzard switched to 5v5 for Overwatch 2, which proved to beryllium unpopular. It wasn’t a deal-breaker for group who wanted to support playing Overwatch, but it changed up nan crippled considerably — and not ever for nan better. Not only did it make nan crippled faster, which doesn’t activity for each hero, but it didn’t lick a batch of nan developers’ problems.

The developers will beryllium taking nan results from these 2 tests — on pinch 2 others successful play 13 that are iterating connected 5v5 — and deciding really to move forward.

“Is location a world wherever some 5v5 and 6v6 beryllium permanently successful Overwatch 2? If you had asked maine a fewer months ago, I would person said no,” nan station reads. “We cognize our players tin want much than 1 experience, and it would beryllium thing we’d request to see moving forward.”