Walter Kong: The spark dates back a few years. In 2022, we began exploring strategic opportunities to grow Overwatch as it transitioned into a live-service era. Korea, in particular, was an incredibly exciting market. Because Korean players have supported Overwatch with such unwavering enthusiasm for so long, we were driven by the ambition to expand the game and reach an even wider audience.

We initially kept our options open, but a partnership quickly emerged as the most compelling path forward. Once we were committed to a partnership, we sought a collaborator that met Blizzard’s exacting standards in live-service operations, genre expertise, and a profound understanding of the Korean market. Nexon’s track record of successful partnerships made them an ideal fit. This decision was purely strategic, aimed at better supporting existing players while broadening our future player base.

Walter Kong: Regarding large-scale events, we intend to follow the direction and opportunities suggested by Nexon. It would be most accurate to confirm further details directly with the Nexon team.

Aaron Keller: When balancing the game, we synthesize a vast array of data. We monitor playstyles across different regions and platforms—PC and console alike—while gathering feedback on user sentiment from community teams worldwide. The balance team meets several times a week to review states and crunch statistics.

Korea is always one of the regions we scrutinize with the greatest depth. There is a distinct character to how Korean players engage with the game. Certain heroes often show higher popularity or win rates here compared to the rest of the world. At times, Korea even leads the global meta and strategy.

The development team adheres to a principle of applying the same balance across all global servers. We generally do not adjust balance differently by region. However, we do make granular adjustments between console versions or across 5v5 and 6v6 modes.

Aaron Keller: There is still plenty of exciting content left for Overwatch this year. We are adding two new heroes and a fresh map. We are currently in the middle of our first annual narrative arc, and fans can expect compelling story content to follow. We also place great importance on event modes, and Season 5, which includes the Halloween season, has some very fun things in store.

Ben Bell: Korea has always been a pillar of Overwatch esports, home to exceptional players, teams, and coaching staff. While Overwatch esports is a global phenomenon, we want to expand support for 'grassroots programs' in collaboration with Nexon, allowing players to engage with esports at various levels. Our goal is to broaden the community foundation and foster a more vibrant competitive ecosystem.

Ben Bell: The core goal of this partnership is to get closer to our fans. By working with Nexon, who possess deep understanding and rich experience with Korean players, we have a unique opportunity to listen more closely to community feedback and better understand how to improve the game for Korea. We aim to communicate closely with fans in every region, and Nexon will be an excellent partner in that effort here. We are currently in a phase of listening and learning. I encourage you to keep a close watch on how the Nexon team gathers and prepares for user feedback.

Ben Bell: Nexon is better positioned to speak on the specifics. Through this partnership, we expect to gain a better grasp of in-game matches and community trends.

Ben Bell: Linking accounts via Nexon means you will be playing within an optimized, Korea-centric community. The value we aim to deliver is not just special events or perks, but an overall improvement in service quality for Korean players. We have carefully reviewed how this transition impacts users and are continuously monitoring to ensure smooth matchmaking and high match quality. Since our ultimate goal is to provide a tailored service for Korean fans, we will keep a very close eye on the situation.

Aaron Keller: We are very satisfied with Venture’s current performance. Our development philosophy is to introduce new heroes in a state that is 'powerful yet stable.' We noticed Venture wasn’t quite hitting the mark immediately after launch, so we performed an immediate adjustment the following day, with an additional patch later that week.

We believe Venture is in a good spot for the current season, but we remain open to further adjustments depending on how future seasons unfold. Additionally, a mid-season balance patch is scheduled within a few weeks. There will be balance adjustments related to Juno, which we expect to be a very fun change.

Aaron Keller:The most famous is the '3-tank, 3-support (GOATS)' meta, which dominated the game for over a year. It was a primary catalyst for the development team to introduce the Role Queue system.

Following feedback from Korean players to bring back Open Queue, we reinstated it. Furthermore, within the last year, there has been an interesting trend in Korea where Winston is utilized with a frequency and effectiveness rarely seen in other regions.

Looking at the strategies evolving in recent World Cup or OWCS tournaments, the play utilizing Juno in combination with D.Va, Bastion, or Cassidy has been very impressive. From a viewer’s perspective, seeing professional players execute novel and surprising strategies with such precision is a massive positive for the game.

Aaron Keller: Korean players have an incredibly competitive mindset when approaching Overwatch. They are very serious about the process of improving their skills and practicing. Consequently, once it is proven that a certain hero performs well, there is a strong tendency to quickly switch to that hero and master them to win. While top-tier players in other regions show this same attitude, globally, there is a high proportion of casual players who enjoy the game for fun after work. They tend not to follow meta shifts or trends as sensitively as Korean players do.

Walter Kong: While I cannot disclose specific upcoming collaborations, I can speak to our general direction. In-game collaborations are an excellent channel to stimulate interest across diverse fan bases and help users experience elements they love within the world of Overwatch.

We will continue to pursue global collaborations, which includes Korea. We are open not only to global collaborations that bring Korean content to the world, but also to collaborations designed exclusively for Korean players. We plan to continuously identify and invest in opportunities to enhance the player experience in close cooperation with Nexon.

Walter Kong:It is an incredibly enjoyable experience. We are having a special moment in every sense. Before launching Overwatch in 2016, we held the Overwatch Festival in Busan. Since then, Korean players have shown immense support, and I believe they have helped build the game throughout the entire history of Overwatch.

Ben Bell: Meeting the fans in person was very special. During the autograph session the previous day (the 22nd), we were able to hear personal stories directly from the fans. Understanding why they play the game, what parts they love, and the relationship they have with the game is crucial. We will share the inspiration gained here with the development team.

Aaron Keller:After the doors opened, the procession of fans seemed endless. The energy level of Korean fans is incredibly high and impressive. There is a clear reason why characters like D.Va and Venture are set as former pro gamers from Korea. Korea always gives the impression of being at the center of global competitive esports. I believe Korea is the region that best exemplifies these characteristics of Overwatch when we create characters or host events.