Overwatch 2 Reviews Surge to 'Mixed' After Steam Low

Overwatch 2 Season 15: A Resurgence from the Brink?

Overwatch 2, launched two and a half years after its predecessor, faced a tumultuous start. In August 2023, it earned the dubious distinction of being Steam's worst-reviewed game ever, largely due to controversial monetization practices and the controversial shift from a premium model to free-to-play. The cancellation of the highly anticipated PvE Hero mode further fueled negative sentiment.

However, a recent shift in player perception is evident. While still holding a "mostly negative" overall rating, Season 15 has injected a surprising dose of positivity into recent reviews, pushing the 30-day review average to "mixed," with 43% of the 5,325 reviews being positive. This significant improvement is attributed to the substantial changes introduced in Season 15, including hero perks and the return of loot boxes.

Overwatch 2 Season 15 Screenshots

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Player feedback reflects this change. Recent positive reviews praise the update, calling it a return to the core gameplay that made the original Overwatch successful, contrasting it with past criticisms of corporate greed. One review even states, “The recent update is what the game should always have been before corporate greed got in the way.” Another enthusiastically adds, “Going back to what worked in Overwatch 1 while introducing new and fun mechanics... Now we just gotta wait for next season with an actual cooler battlepass.”

This renewed interest comes amidst the success of Marvel Rivals, a competing hero shooter that has amassed 40 million downloads since its December launch. In an interview with GamesRadar, Overwatch 2 director Aaron Keller acknowledged the intensified competition, stating that Marvel Rivals' success has forced Blizzard to adopt a more proactive and less risk-averse approach to Overwatch 2's development. He described the competitive landscape as "exciting" and even praised Marvel Rivals for taking established Overwatch concepts in "a different direction."

While declaring Overwatch 2's complete comeback is premature, Season 15's impact is undeniable. Peak concurrent players on Steam have nearly doubled to 60,000. It's important to note that these figures only represent Steam players; the game's full player base across Battle.net, PlayStation, and Xbox remains undisclosed. For comparison, Marvel Rivals boasts significantly higher concurrent player numbers on Steam, reaching 305,816 in the last 24 hours. The future of Overwatch 2 remains uncertain, but Season 15 has undeniably sparked a resurgence of interest and engagement.