Summary
- Overwatch 2's new Stadium game mode introduces a third-person camera and a best-of-seven format.
- The Stadium mode has a high leaver rate due to longer match times, with newer players most likely to leave mid-game.
- Fans are calling for stronger penalties on leavers in Stadium mode.
Game Director of Overwatch 2, Aaron Keller, has reassured fans after the game's ambitious new Stadium game mode garnered complaints due an unusually high rate of players leaving mid-match. Stadium represents an entirely new way for fans to play Overwatch 2, introducing a third-person camera perspective and an overhauled selection of maps, while also evolving the previously introduced hero perk concept and giving players unprecedented control over their playstyle.
Released alongside the launch of Overwatch 2's Season 16, Stadium is a permanent new mode which sees two 5-player teams facing off in a best-of-seven round format. Each Stadium match can feature several familiar game modes in the mix, including Clash, Control, and Push, although each of these objectives have been adjusted slightly to accommodate Stadium's shorter round lengths. Clash and Control feature objectives that are easier and faster to achieve than they would be in normal Overwatch 2 matches, with Push rounds in Stadium requiring players to escort the robot across a much shorter distance. Players will find themselves visiting familiar maps, though each one has been customized slightly to better suit Stadium.
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Although a single round in Stadium doesn't tend to last long, a full seven-round game does go on noticeably longer than a typical match would in Overwatch 2. Perhaps as a result of this, Stadium has suffered a big leaver problem, with Blizzard reporting a leaver rate as high as 12 percent among PC players. According to Overwatch 2 Game Director Aaron Keller, the majority of players leaving mid-match are newer to the game, which may indicate that the mode is more intense or lengthy an experience than beginner players might bargain for. Keller went on to reassure fans, stating that "since Stadium is still so new, we expect the leaver rate to drop and settle at a much lower rate in the coming weeks."
Overwatch 2 Fans Want Blizzard To Impose Bigger Penalties On Leavers
The issue of Overwatch 2 players leaving during matches is exacerbated in a longer-running 5v5 format, with any team losing even a single player suffering a heavy disadvantage against the enemy. In more extreme cases, though, players have even seen their entire opposing team leaving the game when a match becomes too one-sided, an outcome which actually robs the succeeding team of a win while also preventing them from earning post-match rewards. Many players have therefore called for Blizzard to appropriately reward teams when their opponents leave, while also urging the developers to impose stronger penalties on consistent leavers.
Overwatch 2's Stadium mode has generally been met with high praise from fans by living up to its promise of offering an entirely new way to play the game. It's true that Stadium currently features only a portion of the game's overall hero roster, but it introduces a variety of new items and powers for heroes that allow players to modify their playstyles further than was ever possible before.
Overwatch 2
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 77 /100 Critics Rec: 65%
WHERE TO PLAY
- Genre(s)
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