Wow, so Blizzard just kinda threw this hero ban thing into Overwatch 2 back in April. If you dive into competitive games in season 16, you’d totally catch the drift. Heroes like Sombra, Zarya, Symmetra, you name it — they’re the usual suspects getting the boot. Blizzard confirmed it, more or less, with some fresh-out-the-oven data. Funny how bans could shuffle the deck — rebalancing or, uh, overhauling heroes because of constant bans might be in the cards.
So, here’s a wild piece of info: Sombra’s like the queen of bans with an 85% rate on PC. Zarya’s next at 59%, and look, there’s Doomfist chilling at 43%. Consoles tell a crazier story — Sombra’s ban rate shoots to 93%! Crazy, right? Zarya’s holding 57% and Symmetra’s just hanging out with 23%.
Gavin Winter — one of Blizzard’s senior systems designers (sounds fancy, huh?) — is poking through a month’s worth of ban stats to stir up some balance in Overwatch 2. He’s thinking heroes that make stops in niche-ville might need a broader appeal if they’re constantly dodging bans in places they usually rock. But hey, Winter’s keeping it chill, saying no specific changes are cooking just from this data. Hero balance isn’t just a one-note song with hero bans leading the choir.
What’s it all mean for champs like Zarya and Symmetra? Beats me. But man, Sombra being out of action 85% of the time because folks just despise playing against her — that’s a head-scratcher. Why build up a hero if they’re benched in most serious matches anyway? Just a thought.
Anyway — yeah, Blizzard’s noticing some quirks in this whole hero ban system, but they’re feeling pretty good about it. Winter mentioned something about the system hitting most targets, and they’re jazzed to see it morphing, especially as they roll out more juicy stats about hero wins and picks down the line.
Oh, and a heads-up: players are getting more say in how matches roll in season 17, slated for late June, with a new map-voting twist. Should be fun to see how that shapes the scene!
