Hero Bans in Overwatch 2 Bring Changes for Sombra, Zarya, and Others

Blizzard Entertainment threw something new into the Overwatch 2 mix with this hero ban feature. Okay, so this feature kicked off back in April. And if you’ve been grinding through season 16 games, you might’ve spotted some heroes (like Sombra, Zarya, Symmetra, Ana, Mercy) constantly benched. Apparently, Blizzard’s stats back this up—with a few twists—and it could ripple out into how some heroes get tweaked. It’s like, if they’re always banned, something might change, according to the creators.

“Sombra’s topping the charts on PC with an 85% ban rate. Then comes Zarya at 59%, Doomfist at 43%,” their blog spills out. Consoles? Even wilder for Sombra—93%! Zarya’s holding on at 57%, Symmetra at a chill 23%.”

Gavin Winter, who’s a senior systems designer at Blizzard, says they’re digging into last month’s data to help guide balancing in Overwatch 2. He talks about heroes that are usually sidelined needing a revamp. Maybe they need to be less specific to certain maps—or more mainstream. Heroes nobody’s vibing with might get some love, performance aside. But, and here’s the big ‘but’, they’re not jumping to conclusions based on bans alone. It’s like the data’s a footnote, not the whole book.

Now, what about Zarya and Symmetra? Beats me right now. But, hey, if Sombra’s shut out of 85% of competitive play ’cause she’s so despised, that’s a head-scratcher. Who pours time into a character if she’s rarely playable?

Yet, quirks and all in the hero ban scheme, Blizzard’s feeling good about it. Winter even adds, “We think the system’s mostly hitting its targets. Really jazzed to see how it shifts, especially when we drop more stats on win rates and pick rates!”

Come late June, season 17’s gonna hand players more power in matches with this fresh map-voting thing. So, let’s see where it all goes.