Overwatch 2's new third-person mode Stadium wasn't created as a reaction to Marvel Rivals' huge success - partly because cranking out such a big mode after a few months isn't really feasible. In fact, the game director's son actually made Stadium's first pitch document before Blizzard's 2023 sequel even came out.
For those not in the Overwatch 2 trenches, Blizzard recently made some absolutely sweeping changes to the game that include perks, good ole loot boxes, and a third-person Stadium mode (with optional first-person settings) where two teams buy upgrades and buildcraft across seven rounds.
But when it was announced, just weeks after Marvel Rivals was eating its lunch, the community understandably saw it as a response to NetEase's similar, also third-person hero shooter. That's not the case, though.
"Stadium emerged as an idea before Overwatch 2 launched," game director Aaron Keller writes in a new blog post. "In fact, before it was presented to the team, one of my kids created the first pitch document with a sample level and presented it to me! Stadium has come a long way since then, but I always think of my son when playing."
"Early versions looked a little different from the mode you’re playing today," he adds. "Stadium was initially focused on providing as much variety as possible. It was set up as an eight-team tournament. Each round, players picked from random upgrades to use in combat phases of Team Deathmatch or versus AI, losing health if they lost the round. But it was difficult to create a coherent strategy or builds to counter opponents when the decisions were made through random selection."
A mode that lets you look at all your hard-earned (hard-bought?) cosmetics was always going to be hugely popular, too. Blizzard recently announced that players spent 7.8 million hours in the mode during its debut week, which made up roughly 50% of the game's total playtime.
From here, Blizzard will keep updating Stadium with more compatible heroes and new maps alongside the base game's seasons, starting soon with Freja.
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