Last month, Blizzard Entertainment introduced a hero ban feature for Overwatch 2, and if you’ve been participating in competitive matches during season 16, you may have observed that certain heroes—such as Sombra, Zarya, Symmetra, Ana, and Mercy—are frequently banned. Recently released statistics from Blizzard confirm this trend, indicating that the ongoing bans of these heroes may lead to rebalancing or significant changes in response to their high ban rates, according to the developer.
Blizzard noted in a blog post that “Sombra tops the list for PC players with an astounding 85% ban rate, followed by Zarya at 59% and Doomfist at 43%.” For console players, Sombra’s ban rate is even higher at 93%, with Zarya at 57% and Symmetra at 23%.
Gavin Winter, a senior systems designer at Blizzard, shared that the hero ban statistics from the past month will be utilized to guide balance adjustments in Overwatch 2. He mentioned, “Heroes that are niche or map-specific may need to be adjusted to become more versatile if they are consistently banned in scenarios where they excel. Additionally, heroes that are less popular may receive modifications regardless of their performance. However, there are currently no specific balance changes planned based solely on this data, as hero ban statistics alone won’t dictate hero balancing.”
While the implications for heroes like Zarya and Symmetra remain uncertain, the fact that Sombra is barred from play in 85% of competitive matches due to player preferences poses a significant issue. After all, why invest in a hero you can rarely utilize in a competitive setting?
That said, aside from a few tie-breaking quirks in the banning system, Blizzard expresses satisfaction with its overall functionality. Winter noted, “We believe the system is fulfilling most of its intended goals, and we look forward to seeing how Hero Bans will develop over time—especially once we provide more information regarding hero win rates and pick rates in the future!”
Looking ahead to season 17, set to launch in late June, Blizzard aims to enhance players’ control over matches by introducing a new map-voting feature.
