While other developers like Larian are riding high with Baldur's Gate 3, it seems Blizzard are not doing so well with the recent Steam release of Overwatch 2 becoming the worst user-reviewed game of all time on Steam (via Steam 250). Overwatch 2 is playable on Linux and Steam Deck thanks to Proton.
This hasn't stopped it pulling in plenty of players though, with it hitting an all-time high of 75,608 playing just on Steam 3 days ago according to SteamDB. As I type this it still has 61,702 playing, so even though plenty of people are making themselves heard in Steam reviews - a lot of people are still playing it and likely enjoying their time with it. This puts it currently as the 15th most played game on Steam for peak player counts.
You don't have to look far into why the reaction has been so severe though. Steam gives players a real feeling of power thanks to the user review system, that certain other stores don't have, so it was expected this would happen due to the missteps Blizzard have made with Overwatch 2.
So what's happened?
Well it was supposed to be a sequel, but the reality is far different. Blizzard removed the original paid game, and turned the new version into a free to play version while continuing the live service model. Blizzard also cancelled the PvE content that was one of the bigger (biggest?) selling points of Overwatch 2. There is now a small amount of PvE available in the Invasion update - but you have to pay extra for it.
A lot of the negative reviews are Chinese players too, since Blizzard ended their agreement with NetEase which suspended their ability to play Overwatch and other titles officially. Now being on Steam though, Chinese players can make their voices heard (if they use a VPN to get onto normal Steam).
There's currently around 117,446 reviews on Steam with 106,596 being Negative.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Quoting: Lolo01I'm torn between positive and negative reviews.
I have played over 2000 hours of OW and OW2 and am still playing.
So I'm enjoying the game.
So I don't know *anything* about the first game or this one, from what I understood (which is probably wrong) it was taking the unique hero + abilities from the moba genre and put it into an fps in classic modes like dm, ctf, control etc.
I understand they have some microtransactions, but have no interest in really spending any moneys on this game, would it still be enjoyable, would you recommend it for someone like me who has no nostalgia, and where it has no 'grip' on me?
Quoting: GuestQuoting: ExpandingManThere's quite a lot wrong with steam's review system, and frankly I spend more of my time bemoaning it than celebrating it. However, this is a great example to show that, whatever may be wrong with it, there are huge advantages to having user feedback built so prominently into a storefront. While the fact that so many people are playing the game suggests there's another side to the story, 9% positive reviews out of 10^5 is a sure sign that something is terribly wrong. When blizzard puts the game in their own isolated ecosystem it's far easier for them to pretend they didn't do anything wrong, but in steam they're, at least somewhat, held accountable for their despicable monetization shenanigans. I can only imagine that this kind of feedback has served as an underappreciated good incentive for other developers over the years in ways that have gone largely unnoticed.They won't be held accountable. They'll just go complain to Valve and get all of the negative reviews removed.
They can't get articles like this scrubbed though, I'd still take the win ;)
Most of it as about as constructive as drawing an ascii middle finger and far less thoughtful than that, even lol
Some of it just complaining about the change from paid to free-to-play model itself that they were all but forced into. (Fair enough, at least)
If you're going to post a bad review for a game (I have, when thoroughly disgusted with a game but I've also posted praising reviews), at least state what it is you don't like about it. Be snide and sarcastic if you want, even, but at least make a point.
P.S. Here's one that at least has some substance:
https://steamcommunity.com/id/orngecitrus/recommended/2357570/
Last edited by Grogan on 15 August 2023 at 2:43 am UTC
Quoting: GroganP.S. Here's one that at least has some substance:
https://steamcommunity.com/id/orngecitrus/recommended/2357570/
The second answer to that review basically tells you all that you need to know about the target audience of the game
Quotenot reading all that lil bro, the game is fine and you're just bad at it
So in this case I don't think writing real reviews is worth it – especially as I assume that they will all be removed anyway.
Quoting: iwantlinuxgamesI would like to remind everyone that Blizzard exists in name only. They were bought out by Activision back during the latter part of the Wrath of the Lich King WoW expansion and Bobby Kotick is responsible for these types of shenanigans.Change happened way earlier. IIRC a great many devs left close to the release of the original WoW. Being overworked and not getting a share of the revenue as promised beforehand were topics at the time.
officernice Aug 15, 2023
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