Gundam Evolution proves a popular Overwatch-like, but disconnect penalties are leaving players cold

Gundam Evolution is quickly moving up the Steam charts, as players persevere despite some pretty nasty connection issues that are bringing temporary bans.

If you haven't been keeping up with Gundam Evolution, it's basically Overwatch, just with giant robots from the classic anime franchise instead of sci-fi superheroes. Its betas have been well-received, and now it's properly launched as a free-to-play PC game, with console versions to follow in December.

While the game's been popular, it's currently sitting at a 'mixed' user rating on Steam, with just 57% positive reviews. There's some negative feedback around the balance of selectable mechs, but the vast majority of bad reviews are pointed at the game's issue with disconnections.

Players are frequently getting booted from servers, often as the game crashes to desktop. Matches won't fill back up with players, so battles quickly become one-sided. Worst of all, disconnected players are being hit with temporary bans as penalties for leaving the game, even in casual matches.

The most prevalent issue sees the game locking up on a white screen, which Bandai Namco says it's investigating. "We have been made aware of an issue where the screen turns white immediately after a match is made and then the game freezes, causing players to receive a leaving penalty when they exit the game and try to rejoin the game. We are currently investigating this issue. Thank you for your understanding and we apologize for the inconvenience."

Overwatch 2 is launching very soon, though it's coming without its long-time lead hero designer.

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Dustin Bailey joined the GamesRadar team as a Staff Writer in May 2022, and is currently based in Missouri. He's been covering games (with occasional dalliances in the worlds of anime and pro wrestling) since 2015, first as a freelancer, then as a news writer at PCGamesN for nearly five years. His love for games was sparked somewhere between Metal Gear Solid 2 and Knights of the Old Republic, and these days you can usually find him splitting his entertainment time between retro gaming, the latest big action-adventure title, or a long haul in American Truck Simulator.