Blizzard Entertainment might test out a 6v6 format after removing it ahead of Overwatch 2‘s launch, although nothing is set in stone just yet. In an approximately 3,600-word blog post posted Thursday, Overwatch 2 game director Aaron Keller said that the team is looking into “running a series of events” to test new “composition formats,” specifically 6v6, based on player feedback. “The community has, juuuust once or twice, suggested a test,” he writes. “Why not put various forms of 6v6 in the game in order to gauge the results? We agree, and based on your feedback, we’re exploring how we can test different forms of 6v6 in the game to gauge the results.” There are a lot of factors that go into whether Blizzard can bring back 6v6 in some way. Keller notes that Overwatch 2 was built for 5v5, so it has a different UI and other features that might impact performance. He also mentions that the team is trying to figure out what to do if 6v6 is successful enough to bring back. “While we have some ideas now, there’s no guarantee that they will work. Is there a world where people are willing to live with long queue times to play this format? Maybe, but that’s a pretty risky move to make. We also have tens of millions of new players that have only played 5v5. We want to be openly mindful not to frustrate those who like the game as it is today,” he wrote. There were a lot of changes made between the first Overwatch and Overwatch 2. Besides going free-to-play and adding a battle pass, the other largest change was the move from 6v6 to 5v5 PVP. The hero shooter originally had six players on each team, which normally resulted in teams with two tanks, two supports, and two DPS (minus certain metas that added three tanks, for example). The team switched to 5v5 for a number of reasons. Keller notes that it reduced queue times, but more importantly, the team wanted to remove a second tank, hoping that it would bring better team balance and let players in other roles, especially DPS, shine more. Removing a tank also made the game faster and more focused on dealing damage, which some veteran Overwatch players complained about when Overwatch 2 launched. Fans also said the change reduced variety from match to match, which Keller agrees with. More than 200 Activision-Blizzard developers have formed a union called the Overwatch Gamemakers Guild-CWA (OWGG-CWA). Yesterday, the Communications Workers of America announced the formation of the new union, and said that Microsoft has already recognized and acknowledged it. The union’s founding members cited the multiple waves of layoffs that have hit the industry, crunch working conditions, and the success of other recently-formed unions as the motivating factors behind the OWGG-CWA. According to Frank Le Cocq, a VFX artist in the industry, “The massive layoffs in the video game industry, and at my own studio, became one of the first reasons I started to learn about how to organize to create a healthier workplace for everyone.” Le Cocq said that knowing the World of Warcraft team had successful navigated the process was encouraging for his team.
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