Alright, so, Blizzard—yep, those folks behind Overwatch 2—came up with this hero ban idea back in April. If you’ve been knee-deep in season 16, you probably noticed some characters just keep getting the boot, right? Sombra, Zarya, Symmetra, Ana, Mercy—they’re the usual suspects. Anyway, Blizzard spilled some beans recently, confirming it’s not just our imagination. There’s this ripple effect, you see. These constant bans might end up reshaping these heroes. Or not. Who knows?
“Sombra is like the queen of bans with a whopping 85% rate on PC. Zarya and Doomfist aren’t too far behind, at, what—59% and 43%?” they said. But wait, it gets better (or worse, if you’re a fan of Sombra, I guess). On consoles, she’s snubbed even more—up at 93%! Zarya and Symmetra are trying to catch up, holding their own at 57% and 23%.
This Gavin Winter guy at Blizzard—think he’s some senior systems designer or something—chatted about hero bans guiding potential tweaks in Overwatch 2. He was all, “Yeah, niche heroes might have to go mainstream if they’re always being banned where they rock.” (Paraphrasing, but you get the drift.) And, heroes that folks aren’t fond of might get a makeover too, regardless of how they perform. Yet again, nothing set in stone from this data alone. It’s not gospel.
Makes you think, right? Zarya, Symmetra—what’s gonna happen to them? And Sombra—man, 85% of games with her out of the picture because folks despise facing her? What’s the deal with investing hours into mastering a hero if they’re sidelined in competitive clashes most of the time?
Blizzard did say they’re pretty chill with how the system’s rolling, except for maybe a few oddball decisions in hero ban tie-breaker stuff. Winter felt confident, saying things are mostly on track, and they’re stoked about hero bans evolving. More numbers are coming about hero win and pick rates—so keep your eyes peeled.
And, oh, season 17 around late June will bring this fresh map-voting gimmick. Let’s see where that takes us.
