Overwatch 2 has been using a 5v5 mode for some time, much to the chagrin of the community, but now the popular 6v6 mode is making a comeback, at least in test runs.
For nearly two years, Overwatch 2 has relied on 5v5 gameplay, after its predecessor introduced 6v6 gameplay. The community has repeatedly expressed frustration about this since then – and now Blizzard Entertainment seems to understand and is planning to implement changes.
The developer studio has now announced that they will be bringing back the popular 6v6 game, at least in the form of new tests. Based on these test runs, they will then decide whether to return to 6v6 permanently or stick with the current 5v5.
“The community has suggested a test once or twice,” said Game Director Aaron Keller. Therefore, they will now bring different forms of 6v6 into the game to evaluate the results. “We agree and are exploring – based on your feedback – how we can test different forms of 6v6 to evaluate the results in the game.”
Why wasn’t this step taken earlier? Overwatch 2 has some upgrades and features that can have an impact on the game’s performance. Some adjustments are necessary to ensure that the title continues to run smoothly with 12 players. On older systems in particular, performance problems could arise due to 6v6 instead of 5v5. The technically more demanding hero kits as well as visual upgrades to the user interface, heroes and maps play a role here.
In addition, they are wary of “opening Pandora’s box” in terms of match waiting times if they permanently switch to 6v6. They have never been able to completely solve this problem before, but they have developed some ideas, although they do not yet know whether they will actually work as intended in the end.