Overwatch 2 director Aaron Keller is apparently looking to shake things up significantly in Season 9 if his latest dev blog is any indication, as he talks about several features that are being considered for the team-based shooter that are all intended to emphasize that whole team-based thing that the game is built on.
Keller’s team is making changes in Season 9 “through the lens of teamwork” in order to try and address pain points that arise when players act for themselves: Specifically, the “party frames” UI element that lets players see teammate health bars used in PvE events will be in PvP modes, improvements to the “spawn together” system that will make the effect more prominent are on deck, and all tank and damage characters are expected to receive “a modified, tuned-down version of the Support self-healing passive.”
On the last point, Keller says that this will give non-support players more opportunities to manage their health pool and take some of the strain off of support characters, all with the intention of reducing frustration when team cohesion doesn’t occur.
“When a team works together – each player using their hero to their fullest potential while relying on each other to execute a strategy – the game feels magical. […] However, when this isn’t happening and players are all working on their own, the game is far from magical and can become frustrating. The reliance on teammates can simultaneously be one of the best and worst attributes of our game.”
Reaction to the self-healing suggestion appears to be generally mixed. Some believe the shooter is transforming into something they don’t like anymore, others are saying they can finally retire being supports, but most appear to have a “wait and see” attitude as they await hard numbers on what this means for all of the game’s roles. To that point, Keller promises a separate post about these adjustments that will arrive closer to the start of Season 9.
