Getting faster matches in Overwatch 2 isn’t all that fun when you’re forced into multiple losing games. Overwatch 2 Backfilling Called Out By Players
Since it’s release last October, Blizzard’s shooter sequel has been plagued with more than a few problems, the least of which being the matchmaking. The skill level of the players you match with matters, and the devs know it. Over the past year, the Overwatch 2 team have been working hard to address these issues and have experimented with a few, not-so-successful grouping methods. But there’s a big flaw that’s been bringing player satisfaction to an all-time low: Backfilling.
Overwatch 2 What Is Backfill?
Overwatch 2 backfill or “backfilling” is a Quickplay (QP) matchmaking feature that “fills the gaps” in a team whenever a player/s leave the game. Backfilling takes people waiting in queue and puts them into already-running matches in order to avoid longer wait times. But this isn’t all that enjoyable when you’re forced into losing games.
Backfilling Is Not Working as Intended
The current state of unranked Overwatch 2 seemingly sacrifices match quality for shorter queue times, and its a bigger problem than most realize. Imagine getting placed into a game that only lasted all of 15 seconds because the last guy gave up when the enemy was pushing the last control point. It’s not exactly a compelling experience that’ll keep players coming back, and the playerbase knows it.
Recently, the Overwatch 2 community shared their worst backfilling experiences on Reddit. The stories ranged from people backfilling Escort matches only to see the payload outside spawn doors to enemy teams apparently getting backfill priority. But the worst report came from user u/hydrastxrk, who said that they tried reconnecting to their grouped match, only to find that their spot got backfilled by a random player.
Overwatch 2’s streak of bad luck can be traced back from it’s extremely rocky launch. Alongside the monetization of its long-promised story missions and the game’s recent review bomb on Steam, unoptimized matchmaking can just as easily deter players from Blizzard-Activision’s team-based FPS if left unchecked.
When Will Backfill Bugs Be Fixed?
In the last Director’s Take of 2023, game director Aaron Keller promised future improvements to backfilling in their “to-do” list for the upcoming seasons, but we didn’t get an exact date. All we know right now is that the Overwatch 2 team is aware of the situation.
Overwatch 2 Backfilling Called Out By Players
Hopefully, Blizzard’s fix will set a boundary within a match where backfilling can still happen. Doing so would prevent players from getting matches that are close to ending and lessen confusion. At the same time, harsher penalties should be applied to players that leave after the time limit to discourage players from leaving at the tail end of a game.
It doesn’t take a genius to know that forcing your players to look at multiple ‘Defeat’ screens in a row is bad for player experience, so hopefully we’ll see a definitive fix for backfill issues and bugs right after the holidays as well as bigger penalties for QP.
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