5 things Valorant should learn from Overwatch

Overwatch was the game of the year in 2016 and Valorant won the esports game of the year award in 2022. Both titles share a ton of similarities when it comes to their characters and gameplay, so here’s what Valorant can learn from Overwatch’s failures.

There’s no denying that the Overwatch franchise fell from grace since the first title’s release in May 2016. Millions of FPS lovers worldwide, particularly the Team Fortress 2 community, welcomed the game with open arms, enjoying the fresh approach to arena shooters, with class-based characters.

However, Overwatch and its pro players experienced plenty of hurdles, which in hindsight can be attributed to Blizzard’s lack of vision for the game, making Overwatch 2 one of the lowest-rated games on Steam.

With Valorant now featuring 24 Agents, many analysts and fans have been wondering about the dive comp being a bit too strong, just like in Overwatch. While Riot seems to be aware of the issue at hand, nerfing Duelists with movement abilities and attempting to buff Sentinels to counter the impact of mobility Agents, there are several things that the devs can learn to avoid the same fate as the Overwatch franchise.

That said, here are the top five things that Valorant should learn from Overwatch.

What Valorant can learn from Overwatch

Keeping the meta fresh

One of the primary reasons Overwatch players were frustrated with the game for the entirety of 2018 was the introduction of Brigitte. A North American professional team named GOATS was quick to realize her potential, which eventually led to the GOATS meta.

At the time, GOATS was essentially dive meta on steroids consisting of three Tanks and three Supports, and if you weren’t running this in your high-level matches, you were signing up for a loss. This quickly caught the attention of players looking to rank up quickly in Overwatch, leading to death ball comps in every match.

Many long-time fans of the Overwatch franchise consider Brigitte as one of the first reasons why Overwatch steadily declined in popularity.

For Valorant to succeed and maintain its dominance in the shooter genre, Riot needs to ensure the meta is kept fresh, with necessary balance changes based on the feedback from both pro and casual players. Duelists like Jett and Raze have been popular picks, allowing players to play aggressively thanks to their mobility mechanics, however, Phoenix and Yoru have been overlooked for years now.

If Valorant is to truly thrive long-term, other Duelists should have a place in the meta, at least on certain maps. Maybe the devs can change a few things in the maps in Valorant’s active pool, that allows these characters to shine.

Less shields, more solo carry potential

During the first few seasons of Overwatch, hitscan players loved locking in Soldier, Tracer, and Cassidy, looking to carry their teams. However, with each Tank’s introduction, playing DPS became a lot harder, especially when going up against dual shields at the time, like Reinhardt and Orissa.

If you’re good at aiming, games like Valorant and Counter-Strike reward you if you master your positioning and utility usage as well. But in Overwatch’s first title, the shields recharged too quickly for hitscans to be effective without proper team support.

This eventually forced players to switch to other DPS characters, which could be prominently seen in the esports scene (OWL). Several hitscan players who couldn’t adapt to other DPS heroes were quick to retire, and never returned to the professional scene.

If Valorant is to keep its successful run going, the amount of shield Agents needs to be kept in check, like in Overwatch 2. As of Episode 7 Act 3, five Agents can provide unique shields for their teams — Sage, Astra, Harbor, Deadlock, and Iso.

Lower the spam of abilities

There was a ton of speculation about how the Agents’ abilities would affect the gameplay in Valorant at the time of its launch. Naturally, Riot was quick to address this and stated, “You don’t kill with abilities. Abilities create tactical opportunities to take the right shot.”

However, three years since its release, we’re all aware of how powerful the abilities can be when used with proper lineups and timings. While you’ll find it challenging to find your way through a barrage of abilities in certain rounds in Valorant, it’s even more chaotic for an esports viewer to understand.

One of the primary reasons behind Counter-Strike’s huge success in esports is how quickly anyone can understand the concept of the game. With Valorant and Overwatch, if you haven’t played the game enough, you’ll have a hard time grasping the gameplay let alone the intricacies and tactics behind certain plays made by the teams.

With Riot introducing a couple of Agents in almost every Act, the devs need to maintain a balance when it comes to crowd control abilities, along with abilities with large or long areas of effect.

Let’s be honest, no one wants to play an FPS that doesn’t focus on aiming!

Lack of new content and map changes

Overwatch used to get at least two new heroes every year until 2020 when Overwatch 2 development began. Many in the community were rightfully angry as Blizzard didn’t provide an update for almost 2 years since the first reveal for OW2, stagnating the first title in the process.

Additionally, Overwatch players dreaded queueing into 2 CP maps like Hanamura and Anubis, as the games either snowballed after losing the first point or ended up in overtime leading to eventual draws.

While Blizzard removed the 2 CP Assault in 2022, a few months before OW2’s release, it was a little too late, considering fans had been complaining about the game mode since the game’s release in 2016.

Can you imagine consistently playing ranked matches for over half an hour, only to get nothing out of it? Worse than a loss in our books.

When it comes to Riot’s shooter, the devs have fulfilled the commitments in most of their announcements. The devs have introduced two new Agents every Act, with Acts 5 and 6 being the only exceptions. We’ve also received new maps like Sunset and Lotus, which have been rotated in and out of the active map pool.

At least Valorant’s doing significantly better compared to Overwatch in this department and we hope Riot continues to keep at it!

Avoid mismanagement and have a clear roadmap

It’s no secret that Blizzard failed to manage Overwatch 2’s development, without having a clear plan for the title. While the game was supposed to have a massive PvE mode at first, it was later canceled, and Aaron Keller, Overwatch 2’s Game Director, confirmed that the team was “trying to do too many things at once and lost focus.”

Naturally, many in the community were disappointed, leading to less hype as the new title appeared to be just a glorified update.

It’s also interesting to note that Overwatch’s biggest content creators and live streamers like Loserfruit, Muselk, TimTheTatman, and xQc left the game for the likes of Fortnite, Valorant, and Call of Duty. While this shift didn’t happen overnight, it’s safe to assume that all of the reasons listed above played a role in the declining interest of both the content creators and the audience.

Luckily, Riot promotes and constantly builds their ecosystem for the content creators, inviting them to test new maps and Agents. As a result, the content creators provide the much-needed exposure for Valorant to thrive and potentially attract new players worldwide.

So there you have it! That sums up all the things Valorant needs to learn from Overwatch’s downfall. For more content on Riot’s biggest FPS, be sure to give these a look:

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