Overwatch 2 nearly has two entire seasons worth of content under it’s belt as we rocket into February 2023 – and now is as good a time as ever for a retrospective.
In a Blizzard Blog post earlier today, the Overwatch team took the time to talk about what seems to be working, as well as the things that are not really hitting the mark.
Limited time events had their fun marred by oddly designed challenges and poor rewards
One of the most spotlighted complaints is the egregiously low rate of currency earning in the game. The game debuted with a handful of specific currencies, including ‘Premium Overwatch Bucks’ (and it’s competitive version) and ‘Legacy Credits’ that served as a converted hanger-on for people who had a huge coffer of coins remaining in original Overwatch. The ability to earn the Premium currency does exist within the game, but it is done at a glacial pace – you can gain roughly 60 coins a week, which is a very small step on the road to a skin priced at 2000 premium dollar bucks.
The community made a call for the premium rate to either be increased, or for the Legacy Credits (which can be used to purchase a swathe of older content) to be utilised in some capacity; and it appears the Overwatch team has decided to do exactly that.
In Season 3, we’re bringing back Overwatch Credits, which had been previously shown as Legacy Credits and been unearnable in Overwatch 2. Now, all players can earn up to 1500 credits as free rewards and another 500 credits as premium rewards spread throughout Season 3 Battle Pass. We are also adding more uses for your Credits so you can choose from many potential rewards.
This is quite a big change, because many felt with the release of Overwatch 2 that a vast majority of content – including the huge amount of cosmetics released within Overwatch 1 – were inaccessible without opening your wallet. To further uplift this strategy, the time-limited skins that defined Overwatch 1 will lose their restriction to purchase AND will have their cost reduced!
First, nearly all the epic and legendary-tier skins prior to Overwatch 2 launch will always be available in the hero gallery for purchase with either Overwatch Coins or Credits. This includes skins from the seasonal event modes, so now you can finally pick up Witch Mercy, Surf ‘N’ Splash Torbjörn, or Snowman Wrecking Ball any time of the year without waiting for the event to roll around! Second, we’re lowering the standard price of these legendary skins to 1500 Coins or Credits.
This means that freebie players will be able to regularly purchase an original legendary skin every season – or more, considering that coins will also come from other opportunities as well.
From underwhelming to underestimated – Ramattra became an overtime bully
These changes do a lot to better align the Overwatch 2 F2P model with other more, popular ones. It was curious that Overwatch 2 launched with no way to earn the oddly isolated Legacy Credits, but with their transition to freebie dollars they finally have a purpose.
They also took the time to highlight some sore points with the newest tank character Ramattra and his overwhelming ultimate ability – which had the exceptional mechanic to technically last forever if you positioned it correctly. There was an address to the irritating nature of competitive ratings, something I absolutely feel underqualified to comment on – but from the din of people complaining about it, I can imagine that any changes are a step in the right direction.
Season 3 will be the first season without a new character joining the roster
The Overwatch team is absolutely taking steps to turn the Overwatch 2 experience into a more player-friendly one – and this is only a handful of the many changes mentioned. To read the full blog post, head on over to the Blizzard website and take a read: Season 2 retrospective: A look back and the road forward
Are you excited to see positive changes to Overwatch 2? Are you keen for Season 3? Let us know in the comments or on social media.
