Battle royale-style games are so popular today, thanks to PUBG and Fortnite, that even Overwatch's Jeff Kaplan considered putting a similar mode in the game.
Even so, an Overwatch battle royale mode may not arrive at all.
Is 'Overwatch' Battle Royale Possible?
Kaplan has received a lot of requests for the mode, and even he and his team are excited about the idea. However, further discussions made them realize that Overwatch may not be the kind of game for a battle royale mode.
"First and foremost, Overwatch is a game about heroes, and part of what makes the core loop work in a battle royale game is the search, the looting, and the fairness that everybody's sort of equal," Kaplan told Kotaku in an interview.
"Overwatch wasn't designed to be a 1v1. Every hero's not balanced against every other hero."
With that said, further limitations include the amount of technological and design work that the Overwatch team will have to do to set it apart from PUBG and other similar games. While Epic only spent two months creating a battle royale mode for Fortnite, it will take more than that for Blizzard's shooter title.
The space is also an issue. Even if locking in one hero from a limited roster per player would work, the space is not enough for a full-blown battle royale experience. The maps of Overwatch are quite small compared to other titles.
While Kaplan enjoys PUBG, he's not seeing that style of play coming to Overwatch anytime soon. According to him, he feels like it should be a new game altogether.
Other Companies Interested In Battle Royale
Strauss Zenick, CEO of Take-Two, also previously expressed his interest in the battle royale space, yet he's not keen on adding it to the current company's formula, which could end up being derivative rather than innovative.
Still, Take-Two, including its labels 2K Games and Rockstar Games, is watching from the sides intently. According to Zenick, if players want battle royale, they might just bring them what they want.
Overwatch Springtime Event Is Almost Here
In related news, Overwatch's springtime event is coming in the form of Overwatch Archives. Called Retribution, the event looks to be centered on the events in Blackwatch a year before the Uprising, which was the previous springtime event.
The Uprising brought a new gameplay, but it's not clear yet what Retribution will bring this time. More details will be revealed by Blizzard on April 4 at 4 p.m. PST during the Overwatch League.
