Late last year, Overwatch 2 got some serious competition in the realm of hero shooters when NetEase launched Marvel Rivals. A number of new Overwatch 2 features have also drawn comparisons to Marvel Rivals, including the recent reveal of the third-person Stadium mode. But according to Overwatch 2 director Aaron Keller, Stadium mode and other features weren’t made in response to Marvel Rivals. Instead, many of them were planned before Marvel Rivals debuted.
“I think that competition is healthy,” said Keller during a guest appearance on Jay3’s stream. “It does force people to innovate more and to always be putting your best foot forward, but I don’t think what you’re seeing in Overwatch 2 right now is a response to Marvel Rivals. So much of what we were doing this year–from perks to Stadium to map voting, we did full hero bans–so much of what we’re doing here and all the heroes we’re releasing has been in the works for over a year as part of a new strategy for the game to have a big annual kick off to the year.”
Keller suggested that there may things added to Overwatch 2 in the future if the games are still actively competing, but he didn’t add any specifics beyond that. During the same stream, Keller acknowledged that Overwatch 2 has had very little of the story content, cinematics, and animated shorts that helped define the world in the first game. However, he expressed a desire to place more emphasis on story in the future.
The Overwatch 2 x G.I. Joe collaboration began earlier this month and ends today, July 14. Some of the previous collaborations included a few Transformers-inspired costumes, as well as some from Street Fighter and Avatar: The Last Airbender. Overwatch Season 17 is currently active.
