Overwatch 2 getting huge change to tanks and damage heroes, who will self-heal soon

polygon.com:

Big changes are coming to Overwatch 2 in the game’s next season as Blizzard Entertainment experiments with ways to shake up its hero shooter. Some of those changes are being tested right now, thanks to a weekend-long event called Quick Play: Hacked, in which the rules of Quick Play mode have been altered to make games much, much faster.

But in season 9 of Overwatch 2, which should launch in mid-February, Blizzard is making an even bigger change that could have game-wide effects. Next season, both Tank and Damage heroes will get a “modified, tuned-down version of the Support self-healing passive,” Overwatch game director Aaron Keller announced Friday. While some Overwatch 2 heroes can self-heal, more of the roster won’t have to rely on Support characters to keep them alive.

“This should give non-Support players more options in terms of sustaining themselves,” Keller explained. “It should also take some of the pressure off Support players to keep everyone alive since individual players now have more control of their own health pool.”

Keller prefaced this major change to Tank and Damage heroes by addressing how frustrating it can be when players aren’t focusing on teamwork.

“When a team works together — each player using their hero to their fullest potential while relying on each other to execute a strategy — the game feels magical,” Keller said. “However, when this isn’t happening and players are all working on their own, the game is far from magical and can become frustrating. The reliance on teammates can simultaneously be one of the best and worst attributes of our game.”

That frustration can go both ways. Tank and Damage heroes will often look to their Support players to help keep them alive, while Support players