"What makes an esports match fun to watch? Player expression."
PLAY Magazine UK|January 2023
Chasing a meta can iron out soul, as Overwatch League shows
"What makes an esports match fun to watch? Player expression."

You might have thought that Overwatch 2 had 35 characters and counting to play as, but you're wrong. There are actually only five: Winston, Reaper, Sojourn, Lucio, and Kiriko (as a tank, two DPS, and support roles respectively). The first Overwatch League since the big revamp/relaunch of Overwatch 2 has played out and, shocker, it's been incredibly homogenous, and boring to watch. Big yawns all around as every match plays out basically the same.

You can't blame the players. These teams of five are all great at what they do, but they can only play the game they're given. If anything, the lineups for 2022's Overwatch League just prove what we already knew about Overwatch 2: that you can overengineer a metagame when you chase esports viability, and it comes at a big cost-it sucks out the soul.

This story is from the January 2023 edition of PLAY Magazine UK.

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This story is from the January 2023 edition of PLAY Magazine UK.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.