Overwatch 2 game director says it was a "mistake" to reveal the self-heal change out of context from Season 9

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Aaron Keller has apologized for the way the change was announced

Overwatch 2 blizzcon 2023
(Image credit: Blizzard)

Overwatch 2's game director has apologized for the way a major change in the FPS game was announced, explaining that it was a "mistake" to reveal it out of context.

Last week, Overwatch 2 announced that every hero would have the ability to self-heal in a seismic Season 9 change. The change was announced out of nowhere and was one of the wildest things ever seen for a competitive online shooter, such was the magnitude of what Blizzard was proposing with the changed mechanic.

Now, Overwatch 2's director has an update on the planned feature. Taking to his personal Twitter account over the past weekend, Aaron Keller says the self-heal feature is "one part of a much larger set of changes" coming to Overwatch 2 with Season 9, and that it was a "mistake to talk about this lone change out of context."

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Keller reasons that it was a mistake to announce this out of context since it's "part of a much bigger set coming to Season 9" of Overwatch 2. The director rounds out by promising to further discuss the changes around Season 9 at some point in the near future.

The clarification from Keller has been met with a mixed response. The replies to the director's two tweets range from "actually a massive W for quick communication," all the way to "context or not, we don’t want or need it pls no." Everyone has an opinion on the planned change, and they're not shy of sharing it.

Even a mixed response is an improvement on the responses to the self-heal change when it was announced last week. Players far and wide absolutely hated the concept and reasoned that it would basically make the role of a healer near-redundant in Overwatch 2.

At least now we're seeing an improved response from Overwatch 2 players, even if Keller and company do have plenty more details to reveal at some point further down the line.

Blizzard wants to make Overwatch 2 heroes free for everyone the moment they launch, and that's a goal it's actively working towards. 

Hirun Cryer
Hirun Cryer
Freelance Writer

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.