Overwatch 2 sport director Aaron Keller has been doing one thing fairly neat these days: speaking about Overwatch 2. The de facto voice of Blizzard on issues of Overwatch not too long ago made it a objective to speak with gamers extra typically in regards to the present state of the sport, and the person is on a roll. Up to now along with his “Director’s Take” sequence, Keller has written about ranked woes (opens in new tab), the way forward for Arcade mode, and the failed experiment that’s map swimming pools (opens in new tab).
It is refreshing to see a lot transparency from Overwatch’s prime brass on subjects that matter most to every day gamers, and in the present day’s weblog regarding win charges and hero reputation (opens in new tab) is definitely his most illuminating but.
Proper out of the gate, Keller shares some attention-grabbing observations about Overwatch 2’s ranked meta within the first weeks of season 3. For example, “most helps are viable in almost each ability tier,” one thing that did not really feel very true again in season 1. He additionally confirms one growth that gamers have seen taking a look at semi-reliable stat aggregation websites like Overbuff (opens in new tab): Brigitte is having a second proper now.
“Brigitte has actually popped this season and has the best win fee for almost all ability tiers aside from High 500, the place Zen takes the lead, with each averaging out to an almost 55% win fee,” Keller stated. “On the opposite finish of the spectrum are Kiriko and Moira at round 45%.”
Whilst you’d suppose that those that are taking part in a aggressive shooter, significantly its best mode, would gravitate towards heroes with the best win charges, Keller says that is not the case (names bolded by me):
“After we take a look at who is definitely being performed, the highest helps are Ana, Kiriko, and Mercy for almost all ability tiers till Silver and Bronze, the place Moira turns into picked fairly a bit.
“This goes to point out, that heroes with the best win charges aren’t all the time the heroes which can be performed probably the most.”
I discover that fascinating. We all know that in a aggressive surroundings like ranked Overwatch, it could actually look like sticking to the consensus-adopted meta of the month is all that issues. We additionally know that anecdotally it could actually really feel like teammates are selecting heroes primarily based on their choice, not essentially what’s finest for the workforce composition, so it is attention-grabbing to see the official numbers again that up. Keller notes it is “counterintuitive” that Kiriko is so well-liked regardless of profitable much less typically and, on the flip aspect, Briggite wins continually with a a lot decrease presence.
There are a number of attainable takeaways from this. I are likely to suppose this means that, even at excessive ranges of play, Overwatch gamers do not prefer to really feel boxed in by a small pool of “finest” hero picks. Individuals prefer to play their favourite heroes, and actually, they’re unlikely to swap (opens in new tab) to a hero they do not like.
As Keller mentions, the win/choose fee disparities might relate to different elements that are not being immediately in contrast right here, like general workforce composition or map variations. Both approach, Keller says the workforce “tends to suppose that extremely expert gamers are persevering with to select sure heroes for good causes,” and is gathering extra metrics to review this. “If it’s fruitful, anticipate to listen to extra about it.”
In any case, I feel the numbers point out that there is a vital chunk of the Overwatch 2 group (a possible majority, even) for whom the meta is not vital. And if most gamers do not care in regards to the meta, how a lot ought to Blizzard care?
Perhaps it comes right down to conserving issues balanced sufficient that the “finest” heroes are solely the most effective by a couple of share factors. We actually heard about it when helps weren’t getting sufficient love (opens in new tab) and Sojourn was one-shotting everybody into oblivion. It is protected to say that gamers care about each hero being viable in order that their favorites by no means must fall out of trend, and primarily based on this knowledge, which may be sufficient.