- As the developers of Overwatch 2 shared news about the upcoming game, they revealed the teams will now be comprised of one tank fewer
- Some fans were immediately outraged as this will pose dangers to the livelihood of some professional players
- Many professionals, however, believe that things will be sorted out and prefer to stay hopeful
The removal of the second tank in Overwatch 2 sparked a controversy. Some are afraid for the future of the league; others are excited to see the changes.
Many OWL Elites Are Concerned With the Change
As the release of Overwatch’s second iteration draws near, Blizzard teased details that gave rise to some serious concerns among players and tank players in particular: namely the removal of one of the two tank slots. As if Blizzard wasn’t the center of enough controversies already, this decision immediately sparked heated discussions among fans.
Overwatch teams were comprised of two tanks, two supports, and two damage dealers – six players in total. However, Overwatch 2 will switch things a bit as it will feature only one tank per team for a total of five players. That is effectively cutting the need for tank players in half and shook the community. As a result, making professional tank players fear losing their job.
Atlanta Reign’s main tank Blake “Gator” Skott, and Vancouver Titans’ off-tank Nathan “frdwnr” Goebel were appalled by the decision. For them, this is effectively robbing people of the several years of their life they spent to master playing as tanks.
Like it has become usual in times of uncertainty, some people like London Spitfire’s Mikkel “Molf1g” Djernes and Paris Eternal’s Daniël “Daan” Scheltema used the opportunity to make self-deprecating memes and laugh in the face of the looming threat of tank unemployment.
However, most aren’t that jolly to even try to present the situation in a humorous manner. Even experienced tanks such as Philadelphia Fusion’s Gael “Poko” Gouzerch were concerned and reached out to other players to see if everyone feels the same.
Some Professionals Choose to Remain Hopeful
Dot Esports reached to some other elite tanks to see if they all feel that way.
Although LA Gladiators’ off-tank Indy “SPACE” Halpern is sad he will no longer play along with a tank buddy, and he is excited to see how the game will change. He thinks versatile tank players who can play both main and off-tank will now be much more valuable. SPACE isn’t scared for his job as he believes good Overwatch players will find a way to adapt, change character or role, etc.
Boston Uprising’s main tank Cameron “Fusions” Bosworth, confirmed he’s looking forward to Overwatch 2 and to see the new meta but still took the news with a grain of salt. According to him, it will be interesting at first as players have to readapt but may turn out to be harmful in the long run. The team’s off-tank Leyton “Punk” Gilchrist thinks that before Overwatch 2 goes live, people will try to play more varied tank characters – main tanks will learn off-tanks and vice-versa.
Punk reminded that Overwatch 2 would make it doubly hard for tanks to land a job as it will cut the demand in half. Fusion, however, thinks tanks won’t be in that much danger to people’s jobs because teams will still need to have a main tank and off-tank in their roster, even if they don’t play at the same time.
Overwatch 2 will bring huge changes not only to the team model but to the balancing as well. It won’t be anything that new as teams have already had to readapt to numerous patches. Changes like those usually hit professional players the hardest as their livelihood depends on it. However, among the professionals, many are hopeful that despite the skepticism, Overwatch 2 will turn out to be just as good as Overwatch, if not better.
Activision Blizzard has been experiencing some turbulent times recently. As the company reported losing 2 million active players, it should make sure Overwatch 2 lives to OWL players’ expectations in order to avoid unnecessary quarrels with its own professional esports athletes.
