In response to a review bomb on Steam, Overwatch 2 fans united to support the game’s developers. Here’s what happened and the full context.
When Overwatch 2 launched on Steam on Aug. 10, it experienced a flood of negative reviews. After almost a week, Steam indicates that the reviews are still "overwhelmingly negative." Only 9% of the user reviews are positive as of Aug. 15.
Overwatch 2 fans support Team 4
Team 4 is the team responsible for developing Overwatch 2. After receiving "overwhelmingly negative" feedback on Steam due to a review bomb, fans created the #OWDevAppreciation2023 hashtag to support the game's developers.
Some fans posted about what Overwatch 2 means to them while other players showed their appreciation for the in-game details. For example, a user on social media acknowledged one of the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure references in the game.
The image below features Lifeweaver doing Josuke Higashikata's pose. Lifeweaver does a pose that references the Ouran High School Host Club anime as well, but that's not the end of the game's many anime references.
Overwatch 2 fans respond to Steam review bomb
Meanwhile, another user recognized Team 4's dedication to diversity. In the "As You Are" short story, Pharah told Baptiste that she's a lesbian. Other LGBTQ+ characters in Overwatch 2 include Tracer, Soldier: 76, Lifeweaver, and Baptiste himself.
"Biggest thank you and gratitude to @askjeaves for my favorite Overwatch moment ever in the short story "As You Are," ClearTogether wrote. "It means the world to me to see a character be so unapologetic in her identity and the word "lesbian" said proudly outright."
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Why are people review bombing Overwatch 2?
In this case, review bombing is when a lot of users target a game and leave negative reviews. When Overwatch 2 first launched back in October 2022, it was met with negative sentiments due to its new monetization system.
Later, the original plans for Overwatch 2 PvE were no longer a part of the game's development plan. This was in addition to the canceling of talent trees and long-term power progression. Additionally, while Overwatch 2 Season 6 launched with three PvE Story Missions, players were unhappy about the price.
In a recent interview with esports.gg, Overwatch 2 Game director Aaron Keller and executive producer Jared Neuss shared insights about the game's development plan. Neuss talked about the talent trees and his team's pivot to another direction.
"There's two big factors at play here," Neuss said. "There's 'What do we believe we can accomplish? What do we think, given time and effort, we can bring across the finish line?' And then there's what our players are asking for, what players want. And canceling the things we canceled was really about constraints and our inability to bring that stuff to players in a timely way."
He also learned that players like hero interactions and Overwatch 2 lore. This guided the game's development strategy.
"Making that decision was challenging, but then what it does for us is it gives us a very clear signal of what we should be looking at doing to evolve the game going forward," Neuss continued. "And so releasing Story Missions is one part of that. It's giving more of the world, giving more of the lore, giving more of the heroes to players in a way they can enjoy and experience differently than what they can do in PvP."
That's all for now. Stick around on esports.gg for more Overwatch 2 news and updates.
