Overwatch 2’s Season 9 update is its most controversial yet

Overwatch 2 is currently under fire because many players are concerned that the new Overwatch 2 update for Season 9 makes the game too easy to play.

Season 9 is shaping up to be the most controversial yet, as it features the biggest changes to some of the core gameplay elements in the game so far. The game's reputation has been in a negative place with some of the nonsensical bans and developer choices. Blizzard aims to regain fan support with these major changes, but it might end up having the opposite effect.

The team at Blizzard has outlined three core principles that guide the changes they're implementing to the gameplay:

• Deliver a more consistent feel to firing and landing your shots on your opponents.
• Lessen the impacts of burst damage to allow for greater counterplay.
• Adjust where in-game healing and damage are effective to reduce stagnant team fights.

Firstly, they're going to be increasing all projectile sizes to make landing shots easier. Players are concerned that this might make the game too easy as it reduces the skill level required to be 'good' at the game. These changes affect hitscan attacks as well as projectiles.

A Reddit user provided a graphical representation of these changes, and the implications are huge. Check out the thread!

They're also increasing the health pools for all characters to compensate for this ease in damage. This is their attempt to try and mitigate burst damage, which sucks for DPS characters that rely on quick assassination tactics.

Lastly, to manage healing and prevent fights from getting stale, new passives for each class of characters. These include regen for supports, healcut for DPS, and extra HP for tanks. These changes are massive as they fundamentally alter how HP management and target selection will be prioritised in the 5v5.

However, players remain extremely cautious about these updates. “The fact that this change wasn’t tested on a PTE or experimental playlist is criminal." said one commenter. The community seems to be worried that the game might've been made too easy for DPS players and will now allow them to shred and steamroll tanks.

While we can't comment on how this will shake up the meta until we see Season 9 in action, we remain cautiously optimistic for a fresh and exciting new season of Overwatch, something the game sorely needs.

We can only wait and see how these changes pan out and translate to gameplay once Overwatch 2 Season 9 goes live on Tuesday, February 13.