Overwatch: Diving or Thriving?

It’s less than a week until Season 17 ends in Overwatch, and the official start of Season 18 begins. Season 18 marks the beginning of two (literally) game-changing additions to the title. The addition of the new hero, Sigma, as well as a seemingly permanent change to Quick Play and Competitive games and how they will be played from here on out.

For those unaware, Blizzard announced that each 6-player team will now comprise of 2 of each role; 2 tanks, 2 healers, 2 damage-dealers. This has predictably split many players opinions as many people feel this may affect the longevity of the game arguing that every game may blend into a similar structure, making it repetitive as well giving no room for interesting team compositions.

On the flip side some people think this has done the opposite, and saved an otherwise dying game. It doesn’t take an incredible amount of observation to notice that Overwatch (particularly quick play) has an issue with people picking damage-dealers and nothing else – this update removes that issue entirely. Nobody likes to be the only healer, or tank in a game where everyone is playing a damage-dealer and from personal experience I can sympathize with this. Unless you bite the bullet and try to form a decent team composition you will lose over and over and over and over.

In terms of content, the game seems to be quite lacking in the past few years, with many events being recycled from previous years with minimal changes. For better or for worse, one thing is certain; both the addition of Sigma, and the composition changes are definitely going to shake the game up a bit. Only time will tell how it plays out – either way, Blizzcon is fast approaching and many people are expecting a substantial Overwatch announcement.