I noticed Overwatch event modes can be roughly sorted into 5 categories, with a few exceptions that fit into multiple categories (e.g. Cosmic Crisis is mainly a PvE mode but also has the asymmetrical pvp element)
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Alternative mode
Has the same core gameplay as normal overwatch but alters gamemode rules or invents an entirely different gamemodes.
Examples: Battle of the Beasts, Concert Clash, Capture the flag, Bounty Hunter, Catch-A-Mari, B.O.B. and Weave, Starwatch, Freezethaw elimination -
Altered heroes
Often uses an existing gamemode and maps, but alters the abilities of individual heroes
Examples: Battle For Olympus, Trials of Sanctuary, Mirrorwatch, April fools -
PvE
Any mode where you’re primarily fighting enemies instead of other players.
Examples: Archives, Junkenstein’s Revenge, Cosmic Crisis, Trials of Sanctuary -
Asymmetrical
A mode where there are significant difference between the two teams (other than the standard offenders vs defenders)
Examples: Yeti hunt, demon lord reinhardt, Cosmic Crisis, Starwatch, Mischief and Magic -
Non-Shooter
The gameplay either isn’t a first person shooter or is a completely different shooter from overwatch
Examples: Lucioball, Winston’s Volleyball, Mei’s Snowball Fight, Mischief and Magic
Some trends I noticed.
“Alternative Mode” is the most common category by far, I would assume because they are potentially the easiest to create. These modes are interesting because none of them are really hated, but none of them really stand out as fan favorites.
“Altered heroes” is my personal favorite and seems to be a community favorite as well. Abilities are the main draw to overwatch so new abilities are always appealing. Plus the replayability is high since you want to try every hero. Balance is usually a bit off but you can ignore that for arcade if the mode is fun enough. I would assume these are some of the hardest to create though, hence why they’re relatively uncommon.
The disgrace of an idea that was “overwatch 2” has hurt the community sentiment around anything related to PvE so much that it is impossible for us to judge those modes fairly at this point. I will say Junkeinstein 1 is probably the most well-remembered of those modes, and I think it just being a simple arcadey hoard mode is part of the reason why. The more structured missions are cool but have lower replay value
Asymmetrical modes seem to be the most polarizing, and I think that it’s not because these types of modes are inherently bad but because of how poorly balanced they almost always are in this game. We can handle some janky balance in the arcade, but there’s a limit. I wouldn’t be surprised if the yeti, the infinite empire, and the knight genji teams all had over 75% winrates in their respective modes
“Non-shooter” is a wildcard category. Definitely the rarest, but I think that’s for the better; it’s fun from time to time, but most people want to shoot things when they boot up the game