After the new third-person mode drew comparisions to ‘Marvel Rivals’, ‘Overwatch 2’’ game director Aaron Keller has insisted Stadium had been a concept long before the title launched – and had actually stemmed from one of his children’s ideas.
‘Overwatch 2’ game director Aaron Keller has insisted the title’s new third-person mode Stadium wasn’t made in reaction to ‘Marvel Rivals’.
The hero-shooter – which is helmed by Blizzard Entertainment – received the new mode as part of a major overhaul of the game, though Keller has stressed Stadium wasn’t inspired by ‘Marvel Rivals’, and had instead been pitched by one of his kids long before ‘Overwatch 2’ launched in 2023.
In a blog post, the game director wrote: “Stadium emerged as an idea before ‘Overwatch 2’ launched.
“In fact, before it was presented to the team, one of my kids created the first pitch document with a sample level and presented it to me! Stadium has come a long way since then, but I always think of my son when playing.”
Keller added “early versions looked a little different from the mode you’re playing today”, with Stadium initially focusing “on providing as much variety as possible”.
He explained: “It was set up as an eight-team tournament. Each round, players picked from random upgrades to use in combat phases of Team Deathmatch or versus AI, losing health if they lost the round. But it was difficult to create a coherent strategy or builds to counter opponents when the decisions were made through random selection.
“This change into the format you see today reflects a shift in our thinking: we still want there to be variety from match to match in Stadium, but variety is no longer the highest priority.
“We want you to feel balanced and competitive, while making epic builds through strategic choices based on the performance and Hero compositions of everyone in the match.”
Overwatch 2’s new third-person mode wasn’t inspired by Marvel Rivals, game director insists
