Overwatch made the jump to 5-v-5 with the release of the second game. For a few reasons, but cutting down queue times which had gotten ridiculous by OW 1’s dying days was definitely a big part of that. It’s a change that has always been controversial though. Is Overwatch 6-v-6 finally going to come back soon though?
The game mode might be coming back, at least according to a recent Director’s blog post for the title. It’s a big development, that Overwatch 2 might finally be just turning back into Overwatch 1. Although, the game mode has always been more popular. The statement on what’s coming was pretty long. But in the future we’ll likely see a trial run of turning the game’s core team size backward.
Source: Blizzard
Overwatch 6-v-6 Tests Detailed
In the recent (and long) Director’s Take blog post, the reasons for testing out a change have been explained.
They began by discussing the game’s early development having even bigger differences from the current mode, multiple OW heroes, different time sizes, and how overall the team size came to be. Followed by role queue showing up. They’ve discussed the different reasons for bringing in 5-v-5 instead of Overwatch 6-v-6 in the sequel.
In particular though, they go over the big reduction in queue times with the switch to 6-v-6. Which definitely helped to appeal to a wider audience with the game going free-to-play. They’ve specified that a “switch to return to 6-v-6” can’t be just flipped. Since fewer players queue for tanks, role queues would still fit better into the 5-v-5 model. As we can see by the change’s effect on queue times.
Source: Blizzard
However, they’re now looking into a way to reincorporate Overwatch 6-v-6.
They said they’re planning to test out a return to 6-v-6, through events. These would allow players to try the format, and the team to monitor them to see how they effect things. 6-v-6 will likely prove more popular though. After these tests, it will be decided where to go with 6-v-6 going forward.
We won’t know exactly what the timeline is until there’s more news on the topic. At the moment, it looks like Overwatch 6-v-6 might be working its way back though. We’ll have to see how this affects esports like the Overwatch Champion Series too.
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