Setting aside the humor behind the "C9" reference, this screenshot could indicate Clans and/or Guilds coming to Overwatch 2 — and across all other Blizzard games. It’s a feature long anticipated by Blizzard communities and could be coming with Overwatc

After the fancy new animated trailer was shown off at Blizzcon, Kaplan started listing off all the goodies players would get with Overwatch 2 . Echo and Sojourn, along with possibly four more unannounced heroes would join the roster, new maps based in Toronto, Gothenburg, Monte Carlo, and Rio De Janeiro would be available, and there would be a new game mode called Push. Perhaps the most important new addition is the co-op story mode, which will finally allow fans of the series' lore to play through narrative PVE missions with their favorite charact

This is what Overwatch 2 sounds like, a slight iteration that adds improvements and features while not altering the core gameplay. Releasing a sequel that's mostly the same game but with a new coat of paint is frowned upon by most gamers who aren't into sports. This kind of behavior from Blizzard would be surprising except for one thing: they're owned by Activision, the publishers of the Call Of Duty franch

What Overwatch really needed was the same thing that every live-service game needs: content. While development of Overwatch 2 caused a lengthy drought in the original, Overwatch wasn’t exactly on par with the rest of the live service game market either. A new hero every few months and a rehashed holiday event just weren’t cutting it. There’s a lot of people moaning about the new seasonal model in Overwatch 2, but if they were being honest, most of them would admit Overwatch wasn’t holding their attention. The luster fell off Overwatch after a couple of years, and the quarterly cadence of a new hero or map was not going to keep Overwatch al

The most apparent is the team size reduction. Overwatch 2 features 5v5 battles instead of 6v6, meaning both teams have one less tank in the fight. Opinions will vary, but I think it’s obvious that this is a huge improvement. Half the number of tanks means half the number of shields, which means fights are more active and exciting. Instead of both teams poking at each other from behind cover until everyone fires off their ults, every match is a constant back and forth. Getting picks has a much greater impact, so it’s easier to coordinate pushes with your team, even if you’re only communicating non-verbally. It’s a simpler, easier to follow spectator experience, which will help the Overwatch League reach a wider audience. Resizing the teams has an effect on every aspect of the game, and it’s been overwhelmingly posit

I am not thrilled about the new monetization, and I think at the very least there needs to be more ways to earn Overwatch Coins. That being said, we all know how free-to-play games work. If Blizzard makes a bunch of $20 skins, people will buy them. The hope is that Blizzard will reinvest that revenue back into the game so that we don’t have to replay Lucioball or Mei ice Wall Combo’s Snowball Offensive for the umpteenth time. We’re going to get five or six heroes a year instead of two or three. We’re going to get new maps, new game modes, and a whole new PvE story experience. Overwatch needs to change and grow all the time to keep people playing. The original wasn’t built to be that game, but hopefully Overwatch 2

Although Reyes was given command of Overwatch, it isJack Morrison who is mostly credited with transforming the unit into a devastating fighting force. He trained the other founding members Ana Amari, Mina Liao, Torbjorn Lindholm, and Reinhardt Wilheim to work together as a team and led the strike team against the Omnics. The team destroyed the main Omnic control center in Rio de Janeiro and successfully put an end to the Omnic Cri

I haven’t played enough of the game to judge its new direction and updated mechanics, thus placing a score on the experience doesn’t only feel unfair, but unprofessional. But what I can do is admire the sexy menus and slick user interface, since I don’t need any friends to lose myself in the cauldron of stats, modes, and heroes that make up the logistical majority of Blizzard’s hero shooter sequel. A real review is coming, but for now this will have to do.

The grim reality is that the entire reason Overwatch 2 exists is to change the way Blizzard makes money. All of the meta changes, like the battle pass, Coin system, and locking new players out of content until they grind enough, are designed to increase revenue and engagement metrics. I don’t think we should ignore that or give Blizzard a pass, and if that’s enough to get you to give up on Overwatch 2 I don’t blame you. As someone who still loves the game, I’m willing to accept fewer free rewards if it means more frequent updates and better events. It’s simply too soon to write it off for me. I need to see how the devs respond to feedback and how much the game changes over the next year. None of this is ideal, but in the long run, it could end up being exactly what Overwatch nee