The game formerly known as Overwatch 2 is riding a wave of positive buzz the likes of which we haven't really seen since the first time it was called simply "Overwatch." Exactly how far the good vibes extend remains to be seen, but game director Aaron Keller is pretty excited to no longer be the lowest-rated game on Steam.
In a Game Developers Conference panel attended by GamesRadar+, Keller explains that "running a live-service game is like being in a relationship." So the Overwatch team makes efforts to make players feel like they're part of the continued loop of the game's development.
"Once a player realizes that, then I think that they can have confidence in the future that the game is heading," Keller says. "We end each of our three weekly team check-ins with the phrase, 'let's make a great game.' This is also how I sign off on my director's takes. It's because we really do want the community to be a part of that process."
But as far as the game's ability to rebound from its dismal early response, Keller says that "there was really no silver bullet moment here. We can't point to one post or update and say, 'this fixed it.' But over time, we saw signals change - and engagement, and sentiment, and how players talked about the game. We saw comments like, 'They're listening to us,' or, 'The dev team really cares.'"
With that, he takes a moment to celebrate: "We're no longer the lowest-rated game on Steam!" The crowd of developers at the panel took a moment to offer some appreciative applause at that celebration. "I'm not sure what it would take for us to move up to a positive score at this point," Keller adds. "But we're only a few percentage points away from 'Mixed.'" At that, more applause. Listen, you've got to set realistic goals for yourself.
"I don't think we're really across the finish line here," Keller admits, noting in particular that the team "could be doing a lot more from a non-official perspective" rather than communicating mostly through official blog posts and videos. But even if there's more to be done, it's clear that Overwatch is in a much better position than it was a few years ago.
