After years of Overwatch 2 being stale, Blizzard has finally introduced a new perk system in their game, and fans of the game are flipping out because of their new addition. This new perk system is effectively changing the game’s mechanics, including counterswapping.
Counterswapping has always been the meta in hero-shooter games, and Overwatch has forever taken advantage of that. On the other hand, NetEase’s Marvel Rivals don’t even bat an eye towards counterswapping. Why is counterswapping so prominent in Overwatch 2 but not in Marvel Rivals? Let’s find out.
Overwatch 2 wants to eliminate counterswapping
Blizzard Entertainment’s Overwatch 2 disappointed a lot of fans when it was first released back in October 2022. The game had promised a lot of new features that Blizzard cancelled or partially implemented in the game. One of the biggest promises that Blizzard didn’t keep was the addition of PvE (Players-Versus-Environment) in the game. However, PvE was later reduced to limited-time story missions that required the players to purchase it to play.
PvE was also supposed to bring a new perk system in the game that would give the players an RPG-type feeling where they can choose their own progression and make the character they are playing as more powerful. Although the perk system was also canceled along with the PvE, Blizzard introduced the feature in the multiplayer section of the game during its new season.
The addition of the perk system in the title has changed a lot of tactics that players use to win their games, including counterswapping. Counterswapping refers to a strategy in Overwatch 2 where players change their character mid-game to directly counter the opponent’s character or their team’s entire playstyle.
This becomes a massive balancing issue in the game because players can counterswap every time they get eliminated or feel like they don’t have a chance to win, essentially playing an exaggerated version of rock-paper-scissors. In a recent AMA (Ask-me-anything) on Reddit with the game’s Lead Gameplay Designer, Alec Dawson, he revealed that the inclusion of the perk system has reduced counterswapping by about 25%.
We did want to add more friction to counterswapping and we’ve seen that drop quite a bit since Season 15’s launch. It’ll be some time before players settle on how much less they want to counterswap but in Ranked Role Queue we’ve seen players swap about 25% less and more so at the highest ranks. For power spikes, the goal of the perk system isn’t to limit power spikes.
Although Overwatch is rather keen on counterswapping, Marvel Rivals, its biggest competitor, doesn’t even consider counterswapping as a viable strategy in the game. Counterswapping in Marvel Rivals is not really that beneficial for the most part because of how diverse the characters’ abilities are. While there are contrasting characters in the games, their kit is generally useful rather than made to counter any playstyle or other characters.
Blizzard wants to tweak the perk system more for the players
With the implementation of the perk system, Blizzard has significantly dealt with the counterswapping strategy in the game, and while it is not enough to completely eradicate the problem, Blizzard is willing to tweak the perk system more to give the players less incentive to swap their characters mid-game.
The perk system, along with adding friction to counterswapping, has also brought in a lot of old players back to the game who had switched to Marvel Rivals. Whether Blizzard will be able to completely eliminate counterswapping is still unknown, but one thing is sure that the perk system has revived the game.
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