Did Overwatch 2 Really Deserve to Be the Worst Reviewed Game on Steam Ever?

As you probably know, Overwatch 2 has recently joined Steam and was the first game to arrive there from the Blizzard universe. Many cheered this decision because it signals that maybe in the future we can expect to have all our games in a single library (of whichever company) instead of having 4, 5, or more different gaming platform accounts.

But, what hardly anyone could predict was the biggest outcry on the Steam to this date. Overwatch as of this moment has 132,952 reviews of which only 9% are positive. This puts it in a position of the worst-reviewed game on Steam ever. Still, does Blizzard’s hit FPS deserve this rating, or is there something else behind the negative reactions? Here’s what we’ve found out.

Related: Is Warcraft 3 Reforged Fixed?

Why Did Overwatch 2 Get So Much Negative Feedback?

One of the first things that sprang to my mind as I was reading these reports about the sea of negative reviews for Overwatch was: has Overwatch really become that bad of a game? Well, nobody who’s tried it or even just seen the gameplay on YouTube can honestly say that it’s one of the worst games ever. So, where are the reviews coming from, and why?

The problem with Overwatch’s reviews comes from a couple of sides.

Negative Reviews from China

Many of the game’s negative reviews on Steam are actually coming from Chinese players. Blizzard withdrew from China’s market on January 23, 2023, due to a licensing disagreement they had with their Chinese partner, NetEase. A huge player discontent emerged as a result, and as you can assume the largest number of them played either World of Warcraft or Overwatch. But, since Blizzard doesn’t have an open review system like Steam does, this dissatisfaction was boiling with no option to spill over. Until now.

So plenty (although not all) of Chinese Steam reviews were coming from a place of dissatisfaction with the company and how it handled the China market, not the game itself. But, that doesn’t speak to all negative reviews. There were plenty of other reasons why Chinese players and others left a thumbs down that were connected specifically to Overwatch and its features.

Overwatch’s Broken Promises

Overwatch 1 officially became Overwatch 2 on October 4, 2022, and I remember the atmosphere back then even before the release, in which the players weren’t actually sure why this was happening but still got the hype about the new game. However, as the game was introduced many learned that Overwatch 2 looked like a reforged Overwatch 1 instead of a new game.

So, what promises were broken? Well, firstly, Blizzard announced that a PvE mode with a storyline expanding Overwatch’s lore and character backgrounds will be available on the date of the Overwatch 2 release. The content was delayed a couple of times before it was announced that it would be totally dropped. So one big feature that many gamers were looking forward to, something that would make this game a sequel instead of a simple patch, was gone.

Game Director Aaron Keller said that they canceled the PvE mode because they needed to focus more resources on the live service part of the game, but the players didn’t buy that argument and were left disappointed. Also, another thing that was going to be introduced with this mode was the talent system for heroes (probably something like the one in Heroes of the Storm) that was going to modify their abilities and allow people to edit their own gameplay. This was also dropped and never introduced.

Transformation to Free-To-Play Game

As longtime players of Overwatch 2 know, upon its release the game was a classic AAA tier game costing $60 with an occasional sale that would reduce its price and make it a bit more affordable. However, Blizzard decided to switch to the F2P game model with in-game microtransactions that will allow it to still profit from the game. Nevertheless, it seems like they have overplayed their hand a little bit.

One of Blizzard’s main rivals, Riot, has played the microtransactions game in a pretty solid way with its hit games League of Legends and Valorant managing to profit well even though they are both free-to-play. Trying to match their success, it seems that Overwatch’s owner has overplayed its hand in this area. They essentially started locking new heroes and part of the cosmetics content behind a paywall.

Before Overwatch 2, you had access to all heroes, and most of the cosmetics (except golden weapons) could have been found in the in-game loot boxes that you get by playing games. You could also save up on the coins you get from those same loot boxes and buy whichever cosmetics you want. If you didn’t want to wait up to level up to get the loot boxes, you could purchase them for real money.

With the release of Overwatch 2, loot boxes have been ditched and 6 new heroes (and future ones I assume) need to be unlocked before you can play them. They can either be bought with money or you can grind to unlock them. However, there’s a catch. The grind that Blizzard asks you to perform can take a long time since one of the main conditions for unlocking new heroes is 35 wins. Nobody knows how many games they will need to play to reach 35 wins and even when they do there are a couple of more conditions that need to be met before the hero can be unlocked. If you add on top of that that at this moment you have 6 unlockable heroes, that means you need 210 games won before you will have access to the whole hero arsenal.

Transforming to a not-well-implemented microtransaction model was behind many of the negative reviews for Overwatch 2. In their attempt to compete with other F2P games, Blizzard overdid it with the Battle Pass system up to a point where people felt they were being charged for the air they breathe while playing Overwatch 2. And making players feel that way is always a bad thing.

Not the Same Game As Overwatch 1

As some reviews that we’ve seen note, certain longtime players feel cheated because they believe that they paid for one game (Overwatch 1) and now have another (Overwatch 2) that they didn’t want. Alongside microtransaction issues described above that stepped on many toes, Overwatch 2 switched the gameplay model from 6v6 to 5v5.

Switching to a 5v5 gameplay allows teams to have only one tank instead of two, and that angered many players since it messed with the core of the game. Pushing payloads and capturing points suddenly became much harder due to this update so from my point of view players are right when they say that it isn’t the same game that it once was. Even if this change can seem small to some, it really affects how whole matches look like.

What Can Overwatch 2 Do to Fix the Negative Reviews Problem?

At the moment, I would say that the team behind Overwatch 2 can do little or nothing to change this state of affairs. What they can do is focus on the issues that were reported and work on them in the future. To put it simply for Blizzard – listen to the community!

Here are my recommendations for Blizzard that I believe would bring the community closer to the game once again:

• If it’s possible, revive the PvE game modes that were promised and release them soon.
• In case they want to stick with the locked heroes decision, at least allow players to get ahold of them with much less grind.
• Allow players to purchase all in-game cosmetics with a currency that can be won by playing matches. If someone wants to unlock a lot of cosmetics without playing the game too much, they can spend their money to do so.
• Bring back the second tank (6v6 mode).
• Continue listening to communities on forums, Reddit, etc., and bring forth updates that reflect on their discussions.

Overwatch obviously isn’t the worst game ever to be released. It’s one of the best shooters out there that represents a perfect child of an FPS and a MOBA that is beloved by millions due to its smooth gameplay that can never leave you bored. I remember that I bought Overwatch 1 around New Year’s Eve 6 years ago and that I played it non-stop for the next two years or so. And even though there were some interesting updates, there wasn’t anything earth-shattering that would make me or my friends feel like we were playing another game.

From what I’ve seen online, the community doesn’t really feel that the game is as bad as the decisions that have been made around it. The management probably thought that they could sell anything to the hardcore fanbase of around 25 million a month, and pushed them to the limits that they didn’t like.

The bad thing for Blizzard is that this is the second time that they are getting beaten down with a sea of negative reviews. The release of Warcraft III Reforged put them in a similar spotlight when the game was rated very poorly on Metacritic. It’s interesting that that game also left players feeling like they were getting an unfinished product. Hopefully, Blizzard and other major gaming companies will learn from these examples and not make similar mistakes in the future.

We hope you found our article helpful. For more content on Overwatch 2 see How to Check Your MMR in Overwatch 2? and How to Use Aim Assist Legacy Mode in Overwatch 2. Further, you can join Gamer Journalist on Facebook and get more interesting guides and news from the gaming industry every day.