Blizzard Entertainment has laid out plans to begin testing for the potential return of 6v6 matchups in Overwatch 2…eventually.
The update on the controversy plaguing the Overwatch community comes from game director Aaron Keller, who posted a 3600-word Director’s Take blog post on the subject today. It’s a lengthy statement on the history of 6v6, why it was removed with the launch of Overwatch 2, and how Blizzard plans to experiment with the mode once again. That’s right – the team is interested in bringing back the 12-player option nearly two years after it was swapped out for the faster-paced 5v5 mode.
“The community has, juuuust once or twice, suggested a test,” Keller says. “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.”
Keller says that while the team remains focused on ironing out 5v5, it is also “looking at running a series of events to try out different core team composition formats in Overwatch 2.” Even the smallest sign of 6v6 is enough to reignite interest in players who have begged for its return, but implementing these tests is not as simple as just flipping a switch. Technological challenges presented by 12-player lobbies is one of the biggest hurdles to overcome. The game director explains that, while the team is investigating a permanent performance increase across all platforms, it’s a “large effort that would most likely take at least several seasons to accomplish.” There’s also the issue of queue times, which could be potentially inflated across the entire Overwatch 2 experience should something like 6v6 stick around.
No matter how badly some players want 6v6 back, alterations to the Overwatch 2 formula present new challenges to overcome. Though Keller says a new iteration of Quick Play: Hacked will experiment with team assembly at some point during Season 13, it’s not exactly clear when official testing will begin. He cautions that this proposed reintroduction of 6v6 will be a long process and that today’s post is only the “start of this conversation.”
“We’d run the test for a few weeks and gauge interest from the community,” Keller explains when speaking on the benefit of the tests. “Then we’d measure the impact it had on the other experiences in Overwatch 2, like 5v5, Arcade, etc. We’d take the lessons from this playtest to see what we can learn about the mode within the current game ecosystem and for the future of Overwatch. We would reflect carefully on the learnings from whatever test we run and explore how to best give players what's being asked for. Whether that’s a world of 5v5, 6v6 or even both, is for future us to figure out.”
Let’s break it down
Overwatch launched in 2016 and has since slowly evolved into an entirely different beast. As Blizzard has worked to establish fair and fun game environments, it has added, gutted, and altered a wide variety of game modes. As noted by Keller, these changes include stricter Hero limits in Quick Play, the addition of the more rigid mode known as Role Queue, and of course, the switch to 5v5.
The original Overwatch used the 6v6 format as its go-to structure until the entire experience was replaced with Overwatch 2 in 2022. This free-to-play sequel swapped in 5v5 matches, with Blizzard’s reasoning at the time being that it would reduce battlefield clutter and lead to a cleaner, more enjoyable experience for all three roles – Tank, Damage, and Support. Keller stands by the decision, saying that 5v5 is “more cognitively manageable” than the 6v6 matchups. It also led to drastically shorter queue times in Role Queue, especially for those who queued up to play Damage Heroes.
Keller acknowledges that 6v6 still has its upsides, and the decision to remove it was not made lightly. Still, there are those who prefer the original format to this day and have even campaigned for its return. Calls for Blizzard to include a 6v6 option reached a boiling point the last few months, with many players complaining that 5v5 is more punishing on an individual level, especially when queueing up to play Tank. With tensions in the Overwatch community rising, Blizzard has finally stepped in.
Keller has been teasing plans to offer more insight into Blizzard's point of view for several weeks, and today’s post likely goes into more detail than many were expecting. However, as the director mentioned, the studio has a lot of work and listening to do before team composition tests begin, and even then, it’s unclear if these experiments will yield the results its community desires.
Meanwhile, Overwatch 2 is barreling toward the end of Season 11 of its post-launch roadmap. While details on how Season 12 will up the ante mostly remain a mystery, the studio did just wrap up a weekend playtest for its new Support Hero, Juno, an agile space-themed competitor with interesting ties to the Overwatch universe. This latest addition to the roster will return as a fully playable character when Season 12 launches next month.
Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He started writing in the industry in 2017 and is best known for his work at outlets such as The Pitch, The Escapist, OnlySP, and Gameranx.
Be sure to give him a follow on Twitter @MikeCripe.
