Overwatch 2 Stadium AMA Details Promising Information

With the endless build possibilities for the Heroes in Stadium, balancing them must be a complete nightmare for the Developers. Ben Trautman, a Data Analyst for Stadium, gave a detailed response on how the Balance Team approaches Stadium. In his response, he detailed the predominant aspects they look at when approaching Stadium balance:

• Power win and pick rates
• Item win and pick rates
• Hero win and pick rates
• Item pick rates globally (not considering Hero)
• Economy data (where are players earning currency? What are they spending it on?)
• Match outcome data (how long are matches? How often do comebacks occur? What is the relationship between economy and outcomes?)
• And many, many more

Stadium Counter Matchups

Counter matchups in Overwatch 2 have been a pain point in Competitive game modes. Most Competitive Matches have some form of counter-swapping, especially in the Tank role: You are playing Winston, the enemy team swaps to D.Va, so you respond by swapping to Zarya, and the cycle continues. Conor Kou, Sr. Systems Designer, and Justin Keville, Sr. Software Engineer, expressed that they use Items to help with the potential counter matchups in Stadium. For example, Genji has the Anti-Beam Coating, which allows him to play against Zarya, Mei, and Moira. Items that give Heroes additional armor can help contend more with Beam heroes, giving Heroes more durability.

Stadium Adding Heroes

Developers aim to add all Overwatch 2 Heroes to the Stadium roster as soon as possible. All new Heroes in Overwatch 2 get added to the Stadium in the mid-season of their release, as confirmed by Larry Wu, a Systems Designer. Developers consider several factors when adding current Overwatch 2 Heroes. Daniel Duffin, a Test Analyst, confirmed that Hero popularity is a consideration, but their focus is on gameplay and how players will feel playing specific Heroes in Stadium.

Daniel Duffin’s answer indicates why Tracer is not in the first iteration of Heroes. Lastly, another consideration is how often a Hero is countered, like Pharah and Wrecking Ball. Justin Keville confirmed they plan to add Pharah and Wrecking Ball with some countermeasures, but implementation will take time.

Stadium Additional Information

Competitive maps and old Overwatch 1 maps (Horizon Lunar Colony) are a consideration for the Stadium game mode.

Hero Bans might appear in the Stadium. Daniel Duffin confirmed that Developers want to include Hero Bans for Stadium, but not until the Hero Cast is significantly larger.

The most popular heroes in each role are Reinhardt (Tank), Soldier: 76 (Damage), and Juno (Support). Ben Trautman confirmed Reinhardt is far above his Tank peers, with the other Tanks’ pick rates clustered together. Soldier: 76 is also way ahead of his Damage counterparts, with the others staying tightly together. Lastly, all Support Heroes, except for Lucio, are within a fifteen percent pick rate of Juno.

Ben Trautman also teased that one of the Stadium Powers will feature as a Perk in the Overwatch 2 Competitive game modes. However, he did not confirm which Hero would get the Perk.

Stadium AMA Thoughts

The AMA is still ongoing, and more questions will have answers in the future. The answers above are far from all explored by the Stadium Developers, but these are the crucial points that most players will want to know about. Should you wish to see more, head to the AMA on Reddit now!

Overall, the answers given by the Overwatch 2 Stadium Developers create positivity for the game mode. The Developers have goals outlined for the Stadium and intend to listen to player feedback. While the game mode is in the early days, with only half the Overwatch 2 Hero cast in the game, there is room for improvement, but the early signs are positive.