Overwatch 2 is now the worst rated game on Steam

[Dr. Zoidberg]

Here's something that no English language media outlet has caught on to:

Overwatch 2 currently has 100k reviews on Steam since launching 3 days ago, of which 91% are negative.

However, nearly 2/3 of those reviews (63k) are written in S.Chinese, with 97% of them being negative.

Alignment with Intl audience:

On the surface, the Chinese reviews mention a lot of the same elements as reviews from the rest of the world.

The lack of promised PvE content, criticism over in game content pricing and perceived downgrades compared to OW1 are cited in all language reviews.

Why are so many reviews from China?

Most of you will be aware that Blizzard and NetEase ended their agreement for the distribution of Blizzard PC games in China, leading to the shut down of OW2 and other titles on Jan 23, 2023.

To cut a long story short, gamers in China have been upset over losing their accounts and ability to play on the national server, with no announcement of a return so far.

The launch on Steam is the first time that gamers can vent on an open and international platform, with many taking the opportunity to do so.

What do the reviews say?

On a theoretical level, the Steam launch for OW2 does allow players in China to access the game again. This is because the international ver. of Steam is accessible in China without a VPN and the game has a S.Chinese localization.

However, the complaints have mostly revolved around:
- Criticism of Blizzard's handling of the game
- Lack of national server + existing game account
- Slow to log in + poor online connection
- Criticism over shut down of national server and impact on gaming communities

Worst rated game of all time

As noted in the tweet below, OW2 has become the worst user rated game of all time on Steam in just a couple of days. It takes the record from "War of the Three Kingdoms", a card battle game from Chinese developer Youka.

Some users that left negative reviews for OW2 have proceeded to leave positive reviews for War of the Three Kingdoms in the past couple of days, citing their desire for OW2 to keep its lead.

However, War of the Three Kingdoms still has 89% negative reviews... so not great lol.

What do Chinese players want?

We conducted a survey in March 2023 that looked at Blizzard PC game players in China both before and after the shut down of key titles.

We found that World of Warcraft and Overwatch were the most popular Blizzard PC games prior to the shut down, both by players and time played.

Overwatch gamers were most likely to switch to a similar game from a different publisher after the shut down. Over 40% said they were considering playing the game on a global server via a VPN and a majority (53%) said they would start playing the game again if it relaunched in China with a national server.

In the end, it's clear that OW was and still is a popular IP in China. But the string of events starting from the shut down at the beginning of the year has led to pent up frustration being let out all at once.

[ian]

I know a lot of people who get pissed at Overwatch 2, like the series was ever the best thing in the entire universe.

Blizzard diehard fans are just a different breed. The first game was good... about a decade after Team Fortress 2 was a better game.

And Overwatch 2 is basically just an improved 1 but with new Heroes people hate and not giving them every single option they want.