Before I begin, I want to clarify that I still have lots of fun with Overwatch. However, this is not because the game is in a good state or anything, but because my tolerance for crap is just very high.
Several fatal mistakes were made during the transition to Overwatch 2. Besides the obvious marketing and PVE disasters, I want to address two imo even more important points: Overwatch has eliminated its own target audiences.
Target Audience 1: The Casual Skin Collectors:
Due to the switch to a F2P model, many players have simply left the IP because skin prices are too high for casuals. Overwatch is in a unique situation: the average age of the community is unusually high. (Probably because its made by Blizzard) As a result, many players no longer live with their parents and thus have a completely different relationship to money compared to the communities of games like Fortnite.
Why does it work for Fortnite then?
- Skins usually cost around $15 there.
- The quality of animations, etc. is higher.
- The target audience is children with no concept of money.
The fundamental problem is that you cannot fool your audience when they are unhappy. This is why it worked for a while in Apex and Valorant, and why it doesn’t work now. Also why Riot is allowed to make their league community bend over backwards, its because they kept them fed for many years.
Target Audience 2: The Hardcore Ranked Grinders:
With the transition to 5v5, the game lost many hardcore players. The tank role still has people in Masters at the end of the season who are Top 500. In my opinion, 5v5 is definitely the better format for casuals, but you simply can’t keep this if you call yourself a competitive game. This format decision causes you to lose the competitive edge that promotes the game through streams and offers an incentive to climb the ladder.
I wonder if the current state of the community (both in size and mentality) is really what the developers consider okay? These fundamental problems need to be fixed ASAP, and then Overwatch needs to start bringing back the lost players through agressive marketing. Enough time has passed for people to give overwatch a second (or 10th) chance as long as the game is in a good spot. ESPECIALLY now as most other service games are facing major backlash for poor monetisation.
I don’t want to see my favorite game Overwatch linger in this eternal stalemate anymore. Its time to clean up the mess and save the game