Summary
Blizzard has announced new features on the way toOverwatch 2, including the hero ban system for Competitive Play matches. In a recent interview,Overwatch 2’s director discussed the new hero ban system and described it as an obvious inclusion.
With the announcement of the highly-requested hero bans feature set to arrive,Overwatch 2director Aaron Kellergave players more details on how it will work. He revealed that each player will have three slots to ban heroes under a priority system. After the 10 players have made their choices, the four heroes who receive the most votes will be banned from the match. The revelation of the hero ban feature’s inclusion in Season 16 was met with enthusiasm by theOverwatch 2community, and now there’s more information shedding light on how this feature made its way intoOverwatch 2.
Speaking to Games Radar, Aaron Keller addressed the hero ban system, saying that theOverwatch 2development team now believes it was an “obvious inclusion.” According to Keller, this feature has been debated for some time, but it was only two years ago that an internal prototype was created. The director of the Blizzard hero shooter noted that hero bans were planned to arrive in 2025, but they met some resistance. The stalemate came mainly from part of the community arguing thatOverwatch 2players favoring a specific characterwould be the most harmed if their main was routinely banned.
Hero Bans Are Increasingly Popular in Hero Shooters Like Overwatch 2
Character bans are familiar toRainbow Six Siegeplayers, which allow teams to veto one operator each. Following suit,Marvel Rivalsmade headlinesnot only for having this feature but for drawing attention to its chief competitorOverwatch 2’s lack of a similar system. Recently,Apex Legendsalso surprised its audience by making a similar move. In a blog post, developer Respawn Entertainment revealed that Year 5 of theApex LegendsGlobal Series will feature Legend bans.
This recent wave of announcements marks a shift in the hero shooter genre as its most popular titles implement systems that fans have long requested. Similarly, map voting is also on the way, addressing a long-standingcomplaint aboutOverwatch 2players seeking more control over where they compete. Additionally, the reveal of the perk system and a new Stadium mode have been met with positivity, generating favorable reactions from players who believe thatOverwatch 2is finally earning its sequel status.
Overwatch 2
WHERE TO PLAY
Overwatch 2 is an always-on and ever-evolving free-to-play, team-based action game set in an optimistic future, where every match is the ultimate 5v5 battlefield brawl. Power up your railgun and disrupt the battlefield as Sojourn, or yield your axe and command attention as Junker Queen. Battle to take control of a robot and move it toward the enemy base in the new Push Mode. Bring the fight to new destinations across the globe in iconic locations like New York, Rome, Monte Carlo and Rio. Daily challenges and frequent updates mean there is always something new to play.
