The closed beta for Overwatch 2’s PvP is still underway but there’s already been a good deal of feedback about it. From long queue times to Support heroes feeling underwhelmed due to one less tank to peel, there’s a lot to discuss. In its Week 1 Developer Blog, Blizzard Entertainment talked about enabling Quick Play Classic with open queue for those seeking shorter queue times.
This means that everyone is free to pick whichever hero they choose, regardless of role. In terms of balance, the team felt that, “So far, most heroes are falling into a healthy range overall for play rate and win rate across different skill levels, but we’ve seen a few outliers that we’ll address in a balance patch planned for later this week. We’ll continue actively monitoring gameplay balance, and we expect to make further hero balance adjustments during this Beta.”
As for Support heroes feeling too vulnerable, Blizzard said that the new role passive – which provides health regeneration – offered improvements and that “overall supports are performing well in the Beta.” However, it acknowledged that “balance is only one aspect of what makes a hero fun to play. We have heard clearly that support players feel both tanks and damage players have more new content to enjoy and explore in this Beta”
It believes the solution in the longer term is to “add exciting new support heroes to the game,” but the hero design team is “experimenting with significant, but shorter lead time, ideas including new and refreshed abilities for some existing support heroes.” We may see these near the end of the current beta test but the next test is looking more likely.
Overwatch 2’s closed beta is currently available for PC. The full game is in development for PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC.
