Summary
A tweet revealed that most of the negativeOverwatch 2reviews on Steam come from China.Overwatch 2has returned to the center of the news with the release of Season 6, which also brought another unusual situation to add to the game’s record.
Since its launch,Overwatch 2has experienced issues with bugs, glitches, balancing, and inconsistent matchmaking. With the arrival of Season 6,Overwatch 2attracted positive attention by adding the new support hero Illari, the Flashpoint mode, and more PvE missions to continue the game’s story. Blizzard alsoreleasedOverwatch 2on Steam, which has generated a strong wave of negative reviews. And a tweet recently revealed why this has happened.
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Industry analyst Daniel Ahmad revealed that the majority of negativeOverwatch 2reviews on Steam come from Chinese players. Ahmad states in his text that with over 100,000 reviews on Steam, 91% ofOverwatch 2reviews are negative. Of the total negative reviews, Ahmad reveals that 2/3 of these reviews, equivalent to 63,000 comments, are written in simplified Chinese. According to him, Chinese reviewers point out the same problems as international players, including thelack of PvE content promised byOverwatch 2, and the price of in-game content. With the wave of negative reviews,Overwatch 2became the lowest-rated Steam game of all time, surpassing the card gameWar of the Three Kingdoms, the previous record holder.
Chinese players' frustration began last year whenBlizzard suspended game services in China. The decision came as Blizzard failed to reach an amicable agreement with Chinese publisher NetEase. Because of this, most of its games cannot keep operating in the country, and the Chinese lost access toWorld of Warcraft,Overwatch 2,Starcraft 2, andHearthstone. In a survey conducted by Ahmad’s company, 40% of Chinese players said they were considering playingOverwatch 2on a global server via VPN. The same survey revealed that 53% of players would play again if Blizzard relaunchedOverwatch 2in China with a national server.
WithOverwatch 2’s release on Steam, Chinese players can technically play again, accessingOverwatch 2’s new progression system and more features. The international version of Steam is accessible in China without a VPN, so it’s understandable whyOverwatch 2has gathered so many negative reviews in such a short time. There is no prediction of when Blizzard games will be available in China again. WithMicrosoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard approved in China, only time will tell if this will be a chance forOverwatch 2to return to the country.
Overwatch 2is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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