Overwatch 2 has been the talk of the gaming world thanks to its record-breaking beta. But Overwatch players started buzzing even more when Forbes reported that 99% of the 1.5 million concurrent viewers from the beta’s launch event had disappeared from Twitch, leaving the category with around 9K viewers in the aftermath.
Is the hype around Overwatch 2 already gone? Sort of. But why?
Overwatch streamers and pros not happy with Overwatch 2 beta
A lot of popular YouTube gaming channels and prominent Overwatch streamers have shared negative opinions about Overwatch 2 since the beta launch. YouTuber Dunkey called it “Overwatch 1.1” due to its “moronic” role queue with “horrendous” queue times.
Large World of Warcraft streamer and frequent Blizzard hater Asmongold agreed that the role queue was “really bad.” He said that it was “really f—— slow,” taking upwards of 10 minutes to get him into a game.
Once players are into matches, however, it’s not much better for some players.
Switching from 6v6 to 5v5 has removed one of two tank roles from Overwatch, making the gameplay much more aggressive. But the game’s heroes are designed with 6v6 play in mind, Dunkey noted, making Overwatch 2 feel unbalanced and chaotic. Reviews of Overwatch 2 have said much the same, noting that the game was feeling “generic” like a Call of Duty title rather than representing the unique style of Overwatch 1 that set it apart from so many other games.
Aside from a few hero changes, Overwatch 2 feels almost identical to Overwatch 1. And the differences seem to be largely negative.
Many Overwatch players and streamers have agreed that the gameplay is underwhelming, especially for support mains. With no second tank, many support heroes feel overly vulnerable and are almost instantly taken down when they attempt to move into the fray to heal their team’s own aggressive DPS heroes.
Former Overwatch League pro Felix “xQc” Lengyel said Dunkey “wasn’t wrong” in his criticisms. Washington Justice’s support Nikola “sleepy” Andrews wasn’t happy with the support role in Overwatch 2 either.
sleepy criticized Blizzard for barely touching support heroes, calling it “unacceptable” that they were barely reworked.
Beyond the support role, players overall felt Overwatch 2 wasn’t a big enough change from the first game. Aside from some minor map changes and some hero reworks, many felt that the game didn’t feel differently enough to warrant being called an entirely new game.
Only time will tell how the Overwatch community will feel as the Overwatch 2 beta continues and more news about Overwatch 2 comes out. So far, the single-player PvE campaign modes remain a bit of a mystery.
