Overwatch, Blizzards hero-based shooter, was once one of the biggest games in the world. Now, you barely hear about it. The last big moment for Overwatch was when Echo was added back in April 2020, and there hasn’t been much added since then. What happened to Overwatch?

First off, what is Overwatch? Overwatch is a team based shooter, with three classes, being Damage (high offense but so-so defense), Tank (high defense but so-so offense) and Support (Healing and shields).  Why am I bringing this up? Well, most Damage heroes are the most popular to play. Don’t believe me? When you try to get into a game as a Support or Tank hero, the wait time is pretty short. When you decide to play a Damage hero, the queue time is much longer. Don’t forgot they give you incentives to play Support and Tank heroes as they offer free coins and loot boxes for playing those heroes. People don’t want to play Tank and Support heroes, they just want to jump in and start shooting.  This is reason one I believe Overwatch declined.

Second up, let’s talk about metas. For the uninformed, a “meta” is the most popular strategy and usually the best strategy in a game at the time. So now that we know what a meta is, let’s talk about Overwatch’s metas. Whether it’s G.O.A.T.S, Double Shield or the pirate ship, none of these are fun to play or fun to play against, but they are the most popular, so if you don’t play them, you are going to lose. Right now Overwatch doesn’t really have a meta, and that is fun. But Overwatch has had so many metas it has scared off many players, including myself.

The third and final reason I think Overwatch has declined is the core gameplay. Yes, the gameplay. In my personal opinion the core gameplay of Overwatch is fundamentally flawed. Why do I think this? The game doesn’t feel rewarding. Win a match, it feels like it wasn’t a fair fight. If you lost, you feel like it wasn’t a fair fight. The matchmaking makes it feel like you either win or lose, no “maybe”. It just feels unfair. I know people are going to disagree, but that’s fine. Please tell me your thoughts in the comments!