Overwatch 2 has the ignominious honour of turning into the worst user-reviewed recreation on Steam ever, though its latest launch on the platform has seen tens of 1000’s of gamers.
In accordance with Steam250, which tracks the 100 worst Steam video games of all-time in line with consumer opinions, Overwatch 2 has a rating of simply 0.96 based mostly on an approval ranking (proportion of optimistic Steam consumer evaluate votes) of 10% from 92,028 votes.
That’s sufficient for Overwatch 2 to high Steam250’s listing, beating the earlier primary, card battle recreation Struggle of the Three Kingdoms from Chinese language developer Youka.
So, why is Overwatch 2, a recreation that launched first on PC and console late 2022, struggling so badly by way of consumer opinions on Steam simply days after it launched on Valve’s platform?
A lot of the destructive opinions deal with one factor: monetisation. Blizzard was heavily-criticised when Overwatch 2 launched final yr because it compelled its premium predecessor to replace right into a free-to-play sequel, rendering the unique Overwatch unplayable. Since then, Overwatch 2 has endured numerous controversies together with the cancellation of its long-awaited PvE Hero mode — the one function, gamers stated, that justified the sequel’s existence.
One evaluate, from Steam consumer Ornge, sums up the sentiment: “Overwatch 2 has no respect for you, it is an try to pry open your pockets whereas masquerading as the sport it was once.”
In accordance with Daniel Ahmad, director of analysis and insights at Niko Companions, Overwatch 2 can also be struggling heavy criticism from Chinese language customers. In a tweet, Ahmad identified practically two-thirds of Overwatch 2 Steam consumer opinions are written in simplified Chinese language, with 97% being destructive.
Whereas Chinese language Overwatch followers share the identical criticisms as these from the remainder of the world, they’re additionally upset on the finish of Blizzard’s settlement with NetEase for the distribution of Blizzard video games in China. This led to a widespread shutdown of Blizzard video games in January, which in flip brought about gamers in China to lose entry to their accounts and the power to play on a nationwide server. “The launch on Steam is the primary time that avid gamers can vent on an open and worldwide platform, with many taking the chance to take action,” Ahmad defined.
Whereas gamers in China can use a VPN to entry Overwatch 2 as soon as once more now it’s on the worldwide model of Steam, gamers report gradual logins and poor connections. In accordance with Ahmad, Overwatch followers in China are so upset they’ve left optimistic opinions for Struggle of the Three Kingdoms in a bid to maintain Overwatch 2 forward of it within the race to the underside.
“Ultimately, it is clear that Overwatch was and nonetheless is a well-liked IP in China,” Ahmad stated. “However the string of occasions ranging from the shut down initially of the yr has led to pent up frustration being set free suddenly.”
All this negativity comes whilst tens of 1000’s are taking part in Overwatch 2 on Steam. Final week’s launch, which got here alongside the essential Invasion replace, was seen as a surefire method to develop Overwatch 2’s playerbase from its console and Battle.internet base. Certainly, Blizzard has stated it now considers Overwatch 2 to have moved on from its early entry section.
Overwatch 2 broke into the highest 5 best-sellers on Steam by income, and in line with SteamDB, Overwatch 2 hit a peak concurrent participant rely of 75,608 over the weekend. On the time of publication, Overwatch 2 was the seventeenth most-played recreation on Steam with 36,979 concurrent gamers, forward of the likes of Civilization 6, Terraria, and Rainbow Six Siege.
Whereas Blizzard can have hoped to keep away from Overwatch 2’s “overwhelmingly destructive” consumer evaluate ranking on Steam, its metrics for fulfillment will embody issues like “engagement” and “participant funding”. Wholesome spending within the free-to-play recreation will, for Activision Blizzard, show the final word barometer of success.
Blizzard just lately informed reporters it’s calm on declining participant engagement with Overwatch 2, placing it all the way down to the pure ebb and movement of being a free-to-play recreation. However, clearly, there’s lots using on the Invasion replace, though Blizzard has downplayed its significance. All eyes will likely be on Activision Blizzard’s subsequent monetary report, the place it’s anticipated to make some touch upon the success or in any other case of Overwatch 2.
In the event you’re contemplating leaping in, this is every thing it is advisable to learn about Overwatch 2 Invasion.
Wesley is the UK Information Editor for IGN. Discover him on Twitter at @wyp100. You possibly can attain Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.