Blizzard is reportedly looking into bringing back Overwatch 2's 6v6 gameplay which would reverse the biggest and most contentious decision that it made before, the shift to 5v5.
The latest news was revealed by game director Aaron Keller in his latest Director's Take, which is a regular blog that he publishes to keep players up to date on key decisions.
He explained why the studio shifted from the original 6v6 gameplay and gave a glimpse of a rough plan to bring it back.
Overwatch 2's 6v6 Gameplay
This would be done through a "series of events" that would most likely take place "several seasons" down the road. Keller added that the community has repeatedly suggested a test for the original gameplay.
Some even said that the developer could put various forms of 6v6 in Overwatch 2 in order to gauge the results.
They agreed and now, based on community feedback, they are exploring how they can test different forms of the original gameplay, according to GameSpot.
For now, all of the plans regarding the return of 6v6 in Overwatch 2 do not yet have any concrete dates or event names. Keller quickly explained that the transition back is somewhat of a logistical nightmare for "reasons that may not be readily apparent."
He offered up a "Historical Overview" as he attempted to explain the reasons as well as laid out several paragraphs that outlined why he himself believes that 5v5 suits the game better.
The game director said that the introduction of Hero Limits and Roel Queues played a big role in shifting to the latter.
Various Technical Challenges
Keller noted that the technological challenges that 12-player lobbies present are one of the factors that make the issue difficult. He also explained that the team is currently working to have a permanent performance increase across all platforms, said IGN.
He added that other factors, such as queue times, could potentially inflate the entire Overwatch 2 experience if 6v6 gameplay is brought back.
However, the game director did say that a new iteration of Quick Play: Hacked will experiment with team assembly at some point during Season 13.
The original 6v6 gameplay also had impacts on how teams would fight and what different roles would do depending on the situation.
In particular, support players were more likely to spend a lot of time healing because another tank-type character could be on the opponent team that takes aggro from squishy characters, according to Blizzard News.
