The Meta Is Not All That Important: Overwatch 2 Director Confirms What We Already Knew

The Overwatch 2 game director, Aaron Keller, has been using his Director's Take series to communicate directly with players about current game trends. His latest take, concerning win rates and hero popularity, sheds a lot of light on the state of the game, particularly when it comes to the competitive ranked meta. 

Looking at the stats, it's clear that not all heroes perform equally. For instance, Brigitte is doing very well and has the highest win rate of nearly all skill tiers. On the other hand, Kiriko and Moira have win rates hovering at around 45%. But, interestingly, when looking at which heroes are actually being played, the results follow a different trend.

Ana, Kiriko, and Mercy are the most popular supports at all skill tiers, while Brigitte is not as popular despite her high win rate. This goes to show that even at a higher level of play, Overwatch players aren't necessarily gravitating towards the "best" heroes. It's possible that more personal factors come into play, such as players preferring their favorite heroes rather than switching to the top-performing ones.

Overall, it appears that having a varied array of viable heroes is enough to satisfy most players. Developers don't need to focus too hard on ensuring that a single hero is constantly performing the best as long as all characters are relatively balanced. Aaron Keller also mentions that he and his team are collecting more data to understand the motivations behind hero selection better.

In conclusion, Aaron Keller's insights into Overwatch 2's ranked meta help to confirm what players have long suspected—the meta isn't everything. Winning players recognize that multiple heroes can be viable at any given skill level, and that personal preference is just as important as the meta. Even at high levels of play, the numbers show that players are choosing their favorite heroes over the top performers.