Why is Overwatch 2 the worst reviewed game on Steam?

To perhaps no one's surprise, Overwatch 2's recent Steam launch has been disastrous, with it becoming the worst-reviewed game on Valve's digital storefront right now. This is not particularly unprecedented since most gamers have been lamenting developer Blizzard Entertainment's handling of the 5v5 PvP multiplayer game.

Things seem to have reached a boiling point now, but there is more to it than meets the eye. According to an observation made by X user Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX), it seems like a majority of the negative reviews are from the Chinese playerbase. Let's dive into the details.

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Why are players review bombing Overwatch 2 on Steam?

The mounting player dissatisfaction with Overwatch 2's development decisions has finally erupted (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

Since the game's announcement in 2019, fans had been eagerly looking forward to an upgrade to the beloved 2016 original. What arrived a few years later, in October 2022, defied all expectations. Overwatch 2 was now f2p with a battle pass system. Making matters worse, the publisher locked away newly introduced heroes behind battle pass tiers. A poor decision for a competitive game.

In other words, beginners will not be able to pick heroes like Sojourn, Kiriko, and more immediately. They will have to grind through the battle pass to reach the tier needed to unlock those heroes. This is true of the latest hero Illari as well. As if the monetization was not bad enough with locking away good skins behind a paywall, Blizzard fumbles the PvE too.

Initially announced as part of the f2p model, the PvE was delayed. Only recently did the game make a resurgence due to the Season 6 Invasion update - except it's now a $15 bundle for three short missions. To summarize, the original PvE was canned in favor of a scaled-back rendition. The final was nothing like the demo Blizzard showcased three years ago.

A solid gameplay loop can only help so much (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

In a nutshell, players got the short end of the stick yet again. This brings us to the current state of the game on Steam. With a little over 120,000 reviews, the reception currently sits at Overwhelmingly Negative on Steam. While most of the user reviews are lambasting the game for misleading fans, it seems like a bunch of them are focused on another issue entirely.

A big chunk of the reviews are in Simplified Chinese, in other words, from Chinese players complaining about the game. This is important as Overwatch 2, among other Blizzard games, is unavailable to play in China. This has to do with Blizzard's agreement ending with NetEase for distributing these titles in China.

However, this has left fans hanging as they are unable to access their accounts and games they have invested time and money into. Since Steam has no such restrictions, this has opened the floodgates for Chinese players to vent their frustrations. While numerous complaints do touch on their state, many point out the lack of support from Blizzard for their Chinese playerbase.

Given the previous game was surprisingly successful in the region, player concerns are valid. Will this turn of events lead to Chinese fans getting what they want? It remains unclear. What is abundantly clear, however, is that Overwatch 2 is in a dire state, and Blizzard needs to step up if they want to win players back.