Overwatch Director Says “Don’t Freak Out” Over Upcoming New Mode

When Overwatch first released, it became an instant hit and quickly scaled to become a multi-billion dollar franchise. As most online game can attest to, the excitement has dulled through the years as players move onto newer adventures but that hasn’t stopped Blizzard from still wanting to excite fans ahead of Overwatch 2’s launch. It’s because of that effort that a new mode is coming out and it is very, very experimental for the brand. 

The Experimental Card mode was first teased back in January and it’s getting ready to go live this week. This new mode is meant to allow all players (not just PC with PTR) to test out gameplay changes ahead of implementation which also moves the ‘early bird’ testing past simple glitch finding and more into what works to make the game more enjoyable. It’s so much more than just testing too, director Jeff Kaplan has mentioned that this is all about “radical gameplay changes” and a way for the devs to gauge interest on some of their more off the wall ideas.

In the video below, Kaplan talks about how one of those changes includes queues and role assignments. “This was a lot of fun,” Kaplan mentioned when talking about changing up the queuing formula. “It was very controversial on the development team. We have very strong reactions for and against this system, and ultimately at around the same time we had also mentioned to you that were going to do this experimental card… and so many players said, ‘Why don’t you let us try it?’ So this is your chance.”

This experiment is one of the many ways that the team wants more feedback regarding how the game can be more enjoyable and more balanced overall. But it’s not just gameplay tweaks, Kaplan also teased a few event-related surprises on the horizon, though he urged fans not to “panic” when they see this experiment go into full effect: “Don’t panic when you see this card go up. These are changes that we are unsure of, and that’s why we’re getting your feedback on them,” he says. “It doesn’t mean that they’re imminently coming to Overwatch anytime soon. It just helps you get some insight into what we’re focused on and some of our design process.”

Learn more in the full video below: 

H/T PC Gamer