Overwatch is just feeling stale because OW2 has been in development so long. I'm sure they'll get a huge boost when it launches. But yeah, all their current titles are pretty much just rolling along with nothing new, people are going to go elsewhere in the meantime.
The FPS crowd is extremely cyclical, mostly owing to Call of Duty and Battlefield's annual release cycles. Gamers buy the latest FPS, play it for a few months until the next one comes out. A game like Overwatch just... feels old now, even though it's a high-quality well-balanced game.
Or maybe Overwatch does not have staying power. It is quite interesting how CS still has million daily players... And they don't do that much either in terms of new content.
Overwatch queue times are still pretty good outside of Masters+ competitive play (remember most players are quick play or Diamond and below). I'm fairly certain overwatch 2 and beyond will be just fine barring some massive screw-up. The main problem with OW was how much money they blew on the Overwatch League and E-sports partnerships - hundreds of millions of dollars invested and the top talent keeps leaving because they are miserable.
* Work/life balance is fundamentally broken for most E-sports players (in all games). Bad habits like playing/streaming 6+ hours after 7+ hours of practice/scrimmages, terrible diets like 100% uber eats + pounding energy drinks, and finally the stress and anxiety of performing what the internet community breathing down your neck. Many E-sports players have never lived on their own prior to moving out to team houses, and some of these individuals can barely take care of themselves - and it shows. Most players burn out within a year or two.
* Meaningful incomes are almost never provided via your salary or tournament winnings - the real money comes in through sponsorships and streaming revenues. Even though OWL has a generous minimum wage and provides housing allowances, top talent has consistently spurned six figure salaries for seven figure streaming salaries. Sinatra, XqC, Seagull, Harbleu, are some examples of top talent who chose not to sustain their professional e-sports careers.
* There's very few roster spots available and tier-2 teams that on paper are supposed to provide a career path into the league are openly considered a joke for most games.
Has making 17-year-olds move to a foreign country and work 12 hours a day 7 days a week ever worked well? That's what Overwatch League is.
The field is in its infancy, and some day the esports pros will negotiate like other professionals -- work/life balance, a big 401(k) contribution, and compensation commensurate with the fact that they'll be replaced by an 18-year-old when they're 22.
In games simplicity isn't a bad thing. Think of Chess or even more think of Go. A thousands of years old game, with two pieces/colours and very simple rules.
The last content added to Overwatch that wasn’t new character skins or balance patches was in April of 2020 when they added the last new character to the game. The last new non-death match map added to Overwatch was in 2019.
Correct me if I’m wrong but I think CS:GO has had like two big updates since like Q4 2020 alone.
I'll miss Jeff, but he's not the end all of why Overwatch is a fantastic game. Bear in mind "faces" are often just that... the "face" of a large group, who generally is comfortable being in front of the crowds and talking with everyone.
I wonder if the reason Jeff left was that he was asked to leave for taking so long with the game...? I would rather he not leave as he has been the face of OW for a long time and beloved by the fan base. But, this is a public company and deadlines and dollars matter...
I highly doubt it. Very visible employees that are community-loved are incredibly stupid to let go of. Jeff's community fame is worth dozens of other employees' worth to the company.
My guess is that Jeff wanted to move on, either due to issues internally, or for something different.
The FPS crowd is extremely cyclical, mostly owing to Call of Duty and Battlefield's annual release cycles. Gamers buy the latest FPS, play it for a few months until the next one comes out. A game like Overwatch just... feels old now, even though it's a high-quality well-balanced game.