Will Overwatch 2 Remove Role Queue? Blizzard poll gives cause for concern

Amid increasing queue times in the Overwatch 2 beta, Blizzard has started asking players if they’d rather have a role queue or an open queue, with the other being deleted.

Role Queue was a long-requested feature in the original Overwatch, aimed at balancing team composition by forcing players to queue up as either tank, DPS, or support to form a well-rounded team.

Despite the change that teams no longer had six players running around as DPS, this significantly increased queue times, leading to the advent of a classic open queuing system.

Now that Overwatch is buffing 2 tanks and changing the game to 5v5 with just one tank per squad, it seems like Blizzard is experimenting with the idea of ​​just having one open or role queue by eliminating one or the other.

Official Overwatch 2 Competitive Role Queue Survey in Korea

If you only need to use one match method in Overwatch 2 and League, which match method do you prefer?

1⃣1:2:2 role queue remains, but open queue is eliminated.

2⃣1:2:2 is eliminated, leaving an open queue. pic.twitter.com/1bZdaC3hdu

— Naeri X 나에리 (@OverwatchNaeri) May 2, 2022

Official Overwatch 2 Poll Prompts Players to Clear Open or Role Queues

Discovered by well-known Overwatch News insider Naeri, the official Overwatch Korea YouTube Channel asked player: If you could only have one way to play in OW2 and Esports, what would it be?

To date, 78% of respondents have chosen no restrictions as the role queue has been eliminated.

Additionally, a second poll asked whether players would prefer no restrictions to be the primary form of matchmaking over role queue. It achieved similar results, with 77% of players saying they would prefer open queue as their primary form of matchmaking.

Overwatch 2 queue times have already become an issue.

Overwatch 2 Players Concerned About Role Queue Poll

However, the polls don’t seem to take into account how powerful tanks have gotten in the move to 5v5 – and the ability to have three tanks with two supports could lead to another controversial GOATS-like meta.

“Open queues 5v5 would break if tanks are now self feeding. We would just get GOATS 2.0 with Rein, Doom, Zarya, Lucio, and Moira,” replied one concerned player.

Overwatch 2 is designed for 5v5 1-2-2. Last but not least, for competitive integrity reasons, the main ranked mode should remain reel queue. Sure, 5v5 goats sounds fun every now and then, but it’s something I’d play in QP Classic occasionally. Definitely the role queue ranked for me!

— BE DerpMaster (@DerpMasterPro1) May 3, 2022

“Overwatch 2 was designed for 5v5 1-2-2. Not least for reasons of competitive integrity, the main ranked mode should remain reel queue,” said another. “Sure, 5v5 goats sounds fun at times, but it’s something I would play occasionally in QP Classic. For me, the role queue definitely ranked!”

It remains to be seen what Blizzard’s plan for Overwatch 2’s ranked play will be, but the developers announced that they are fundamentally overhauling the competitive system. If they plan to remove the role queue, it will be interesting to see if teams are still limited to one tank or if other restrictions are introduced.