Overwatch 2 Dev Admits It Was a 'Mistake' to Talk About Controversial Self-Healing 'Out of Context'

ign.com:

The director of Overwatch 2 has said it was a "mistake" to reveal a controversial new self-healing mechanic coming to all characters in the hero shooter “out of context."

Last week, developer Blizzard unveiled seismic changes coming to Overwatch 2 as part of Season 9, none more disruptive than giving both Tank and Damage heroes a “modified, tuned-down version of the Support self-healing passive.”

Overwatch game director Aaron Keller explained the decision in a blog post on Blizzard's website:

The announcement sparked a vociferous debate within the Overwatch community, with some complaining that it risked devaluing the team play that has defined Overwatch’s competitive multiplayer since day one, and could make Support characters useless or Tank and Damage heroes overpowered.

Responding to the response, Keller tweeted to issue a clarification around the self-heal announcement.

“It's one part of a much larger set of changes coming to the game in S9,” Keller said. “Internally we're talking about, and targeting some of these changes at damage spikiness in game, the role of DPS in securing kills, and the strength of healing.

“It was a mistake to talk about this lone change out of context, since it’s a part of a much bigger set coming to Season 9. Sorry for that, and I look forward to more discussion around S9 balance changes when we drop more details.”

Keller’s clarification has done little to calm Overwatch’s concerned community, which has to contend with a number of controversies during Overwatch 2’s short life. Last month, executive producer Jared Neuss said Blizzard was "actively working towards" giving away new heroes to all players, not just those who buy a premium battle pass, in what would amount to a major shakeup of the free-to-download game’s monetisation model. Overwatch 2 currently only allows new heroes to be acquired instantly if players buy the premium battle pass at 1,000 Overwatch Coins, which costs $10.

Indeed, monetisation has been a controversial topic within