OW2 players divided on whether Overwatch Classic’s nostalgia can last

Overwatch Classic has been welcomed by the community with open arms, but there’s already a debate as to whether it should be a permanent addition to OW2, or if it’s just a temporary hit of nostalgia that will soon wear off.

It’s not usual for multiplayer games to revisit their roots. Fortnite held its Season OG in 2023 and the original Warzone map, Verdansk, is coming back early next year. Now, Overwatch is getting in on the act with Overwatch Classic.

This limited-time mode recreates the launch version of the game from 2016, complete with 6v6 matches, no role and hero limits, and unbalanced abilities.

Before the playlist even went live on November 12, players were singing Classic’s praises, with many already begging for it to be a permanent mode.

Reddit user ‘pluvialHermit’ pleaded “Please don’t limit it to 3 weeks,” posting: “THANK YOU for bringing Classic. I’ve missed Overwatch 1 so much, with all the maps we’ve lost as well as the gameplay. This is great!

“But I already know I’ll miss this once those 3 short weeks are up.”

Plenty of other players were in agreement, with some even claiming that they’ll be abandoning the game again after Overwatch Classic is removed.

“I would love for it to be permanent, I miss so many things from ow1,” said one reply, while another added: “I hope it is, I’m only coming back to play this mode, when it finishes I’m uninstalling again. I detest 5v5 OW, it’s not the game I bought and fell in love with.”

However, some were less convinced by the staying power of Classic and pointed at other games that have tried similar throwback events.

“The number of Classic comeback modes in games recently (WoW, Fortnite, etc) has proven that the novelty wears off,” said one reply. “The best times for these types of modes are a few weeks.”

Others also mentioned that newer players might not be able to tolerate the imbalance of the original Overwatch for too long, after years of playing with role limits.

“After five games 95% of players are gonna be tired of their only support being Mercy and getting hooked through walls by 5 Roadhogs,” added another reply.

Overwatch Classic runs until December 2, but Blizzard have confirmed that they’re monitoring the reception to the mode before deciding its future.

While a permanent mode hasn’t been ruled out altogether, it’s more likely that we’ll see it return again in the future, as the devs have already teased that they want to revisit different metas from Overwatch’s history.