Oh man, where do I even start with this whole Overwatch 2 hero ban thing? It’s like… okay, so Blizzard’s got this new thing they rolled out back in April — hero bans. And if you’re one of those folks who dives into the competitive scene, you’ve probably noticed some characters like — I dunno — Sombra and Zarya getting the boot often. Like, seriously, they’re banned so much it’s almost ridiculous.
Blizzard dropped some numbers recently, and wow, it’s eye-opening. So, on PC, Sombra’s at 85% ban rate. That means, like, almost every time people are saying “nah, Sombra, not today.” Zarya’s sitting there at 59%, and then there’s Doomfist with 43%. On consoles, Sombra’s ban rate jumps to 93%! Can you believe it? No clue why but there it is. Maybe she’s just that annoying?
Then Gavin Winter, who’s one of the brains behind this at Blizzard, mentions that all this ban data is gonna help them tweak the game. Apparently, if a hero’s always getting the axe on specific maps, they might get some rework love to make them more versatile? Or if nobody likes a certain hero? They might still see changes. But hey, they’re still figuring it out, so who knows what’ll happen.
What’s a little fuzzy, though, is how they’ll deal with heroes like Zarya and Symmetra. And if Sombra’s out of action 85% of the time, why even bother having her around? It’s like buying a fancy car you’re never gonna drive.
Anyway, Blizzard seems pretty chuffed about the hero ban thing so far, except for a few hiccups here and there. Winter’s all like, “We’re excited to see where this goes!” So, I guess we’ll see? They talked about bringing some map-voting in season 17, coming this June. Sounds kind of neat — more player control or something.
And there you have it, a wild ride of overthinking the ban hammer on Overwatch 2! Buckle up, because who knows what Blizzard’s cooking up next.
