Blizzard Dev Andy’s Response to Criticism

Despite being a silver-ranked player, new Overwatch community manager Andy B drew some criticism for providing balancing insight into Overwatch 2.

Overwatch 2 has been the subject of a slow trickle of information over the last few months, and we’ll learn more about the sequel to the popular Blizzard shooter at the Overwatch League Finals. And when fans found out about his poor rating, a new Overwatch community manager received some backlash for sharing insight into the balancing of the future sequel.

Andy B, the new Overwatch community manager, was speaking with fans in the Blizzard forums when one fan questioned how he could contribute insight into the game’s balancing with such a low rank, saying; “How is a bronze supposed to relay any feedback to the devs? Sorry but I think you probably don’t understand half the things people even talk about here.”

Andy then replied stating; “I wouldn’t conflate understanding with ability. There are plenty of people out there who have a deep understanding of their game of choice, but are not competitive participants themselves.”

It’s important to remember that Andy is only a community manager, and that he has no say in ultimate balance choices, as numerous players have pointed out. While Andy’s duty is to maintain a clear line of communication between fans and the development team, he has no say in what changes are made to the game. Clearly, there was a communication breakdown, as the original complainant believed Andy was the be-all and end-all when it came to Overwatch balance choices.

Andy clarified his role in another comment saying; “My role is to facilitate communication between the developers and the community, something I’ve been passionate about for years. We’re required to have empathy for both the player experience and the developer experience, and walking in both worlds can be a bit tricky, as shown in this post.”