Overwatch Director Would Love to Add a Battle Royale Mode, But There's a Catch

Nowadays, it feels like you have no choice but to succumb to the genre of battle royale. More and more games are adding the popular mode, even if some additions were made in jest. Though not a new genre by any means, the rapid fire success of both PUBG and Fortnite has solidified this particular play style as one to watch out for. We even talked about this exact same thing earlier today when Rainbow Six Siege's community manager made a statement about the genre coming to their game. There's no denying the allure of battle royale and the record breaking player numbers don't like - the people want it. But the question here is, do Overwatch players want it?

According to the game director himself: yes. The pitch isn't that far fetched seeing as how we even have this mode on mobile now. That being said, Blizzard's popular shooter hasn't been shy about adding different modes into their game, including the highly beloved Capture the Flag event. So what does Jeff Kaplan have to say in response to fan feedback regarding their own version of the "winner, winner chicken dinner?"

"A lot of times when I hear some of our fans pitch it, they're like 'Oh, just put a card in the Arcade one day that's a battle royale mode,' and I'm like 'Fuck, that would be awesome,'" Overwatch's Jeff Kaplan told Kotaku. "But there's a lot of design and tech work to get us to that place and not just feel like a me-too game."

He went on to discuss how logistically, it might not work. This is in large part due to how the heroes are set up and balance concerns:

"First and foremost, Overwatch is a game about heroes, and part of what makes the core loop work in a battle royale game is the search, the looting, and the fairness that everybody's sort of equal," Kaplan said. "Overwatch wasn't designed to be a 1v1. Every hero's not balanced against every other hero."

"I think there are also some technical challenges of large, open game spaces," he added. "Our primary engagement distance is usually around 15 to 40 meters. The Hanamura dojo point B is 45 meters across. I don't think people realize how tiny it is. Part of what makes Fortnite and PUBG so awesome is that you can have these really long engagement distances."

As much as we'd like to see it, the man makes sense. In order to bring this mode into the game, a major restructuring would have to happen and given how much Overwatch does already - it might not be worth it. The title isn't hurting sales-wise and they are constantly adding new events, new skins, and new additions to their own lore in the form of comics and animated shorts. Maybe a battle royale mode may come later, but at this time? It's just not a focus.