Could Overwatch 2 bring back the 6v6 team format? Blizzard says it’s considering it

polygon.com:

One of the biggest changes Blizzard has made for Overwatch 2 to date was shifting the game’s team size, from six players versus six, to five players versus five. Changing to the 5v5 format was a radical and contentious decision, but Blizzard argued that it made matches more readable and less noisy, both for players and for spectators. Reducing the number of players per match from 12 to 10 also benefited queue times, shortening the wait to get into games.

But Blizzard is now reevaluating that decision in response to player feedback, game director Aaron Keller wrote in a Director’s Take blog on Thursday. 6v6 could return to Overwatch 2, Keller explained, but only after sufficient testing and experimentation.

Reverting to a 6v6 format wouldn’t be an easy decision, Keller said, and he spends a few thousand thoughtfully considered words explaining the various reasons why Blizzard chose to (and seems happy with) the 5v5 structure of Overwatch 2, and how it benefits players. Queue times are shorter, there are fewer shields to shoot through, and skirmishes are easy to follow. But Keller also acknowledges that not all players are happy with 5v5, and many want 6v6 back.

And so Blizzard is “looking at running a series of events to try out different core team composition formats in Overwatch 2,” Keller wrote, and that includes testing “different forms of 6v6 in the game to gauge the results.”

One of the bigger issues facing a possible return to the 6v6 format is Overwatch 2’s technical performance, which for the past three years has been targeted at two teams of five players — while also maintaining that performance on older platforms like Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.

“There have been quite a few upgrades and additions to Overwatch 2 that have an impact on the performance of the game,” Keller wrote, citing numerous visual upgrades and more technically demanding hero kits. “In a 6v6 setting, these upgrades can have significant impacts for our players, causing