Blizzard is making a significant change to how aim assist works for console players participating in Overwatch 2 cross-platform play. Aim assist is a perpetually controversial subject in an era of gaming where cross-platform play is increasingly expected of competitive online multiplayer games. Blizzard has previously taken a firm stance regarding the subject in Overwatch 2, prioritizing an even playfield at the expense of console players. Blizzard appears to have now changed direction, though.When Overwatch 2 first launched, Blizzard took a surprising but fair stance. Console players participating in crossplay would not be given any aim assist, regardless of what game mode they were participating in. That decision was obviously to Overwatch 2 PC players' benefit, given the comparative strength of the mouse and keyboard control scheme. However, it also inarguably left console players, and particularly the average console player, at a disadvantage while playing crossplay.In what's certain to be a controversial decision, Blizzard has re-implemented aim assist for console players in Overwatch 2. Aim assist will work in all game modes except Competitive when console players are grouped with PC players and enter the crossplay queue. Aim assist already worked in console-exclusive queues, naturally, so there's no change on the front. This change is solely for console players that group with PC players.
Blizzard also provided an explanation for its decision. It explains that the lack of aim assist in crossplay parties ensured that controller-users were "opting into a bad experience" just to play with their friends. Alternatively, many Overwatch 2 groups were forced not to play with their PC friends to ensure they had a "good experience." While Blizzard doesn't explicitly say it made this change to make console players more competitive against PC players, that's heavily implied.
For what it's worth, Overwatch 2 players on console haven't been loudly critical of Blizzard's initial decision not to offer aim assist for cross-platform parties. This decision seems to be driven by Blizzard's data, rather than any outcry. If anything, the outcry will begin now from PC players who feel disadvantaged due to console players' aim assist.
Blizzard will be closely monitoring the change going forward. Aim assist isn't a perfect science. There's a lot of optimization that goes into it to ensure that aim assist doesn't make controller users overpowered. Skill should still be the largest factor in playing Overwatch 2, controller or keyboard. With that said, Blizzard does clearly want to ensure controller users can hold their own against PC users, even if PC users end up feeling like it's unfair. As long as it's not in Competitive mode, it's hard to argue that fun shouldn't be the priority.
Overwatch 2 is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.