Overwatch Role Lock Could Be Implemented in the Near Future

The Overwatch League is apparently getting a major overhaul, one that could have big implications for the game itself. While it hasn’t been confirmed outright, a 2-2-2 role lock is reportedly coming to stage 4 of the Overwatch League. Players within the league have been speaking about it openly, though it seems like this is something Blizzard has been planning for a while. In addition, it seems quite likely that this restriction will be implemented in the main game. If so, it would be one the biggest balance changes Overwatch has seen yet.

In basic terms, a 2-2-2 lock means that a single team can have no more than two characters in each role (damage, tank, support). It would be the most substantial change made to the hero selection process since 2016, when Blizzard made it so each character could only be on a team once. This would restrict the character selection process even more and result in forcing players to think more strategically when assembling a team.

While Blizzard hasn’t commented on this yet, former professional Overwatch player Fissure confirmed the change. Reportedly, teams in the OWL had only just heard about the change in early June. With stage 4 taking place on July 25, 2019, teams only had a short window of time to rethink their strategies.

A role lock in this form has been rumored for Overwatch for a while, as balance has been one of the hero shooter’s biggest headaches. While in theory it sounds like a smart idea, there are some characters, like Brigitte, who are classified under a certain role, but operate in ways that make them more like hybrid characters. How they would ultimately be impacted by a change like this is uncertain.

Blizzard has reportedly been trying to get a 2-2-2 lock into Overwatch for some time now. Whether it would be translated to the full game or not is currently unknown, but it seems likely. It’s also unknown whether this would coincide with a role queue (a much-request feature) that allows players to queue up for specific roles. Of course, none of this has been confirmed outright by Blizzard.

Speaking of Overwatch, we could see a new single-player experience set in the Overwatch world. Though whether it will be a full sequel or simply an expansion of the base game is currently unknown.

Would you want to see a role lock like this implemented in Overwatch? Let us know!

[Source: ResetEra]