As we’ve pointed out on a couple occasions, Overwatch’s Play Of The Game feature, while excellent in concept, is kinda borked. It tends to focus on multi-kills or the occasional ult denial, as opposed to strong team play, vital supports, or truly tide-turning moments. One fan took a crack at making something better.
Inspired by a Rock Paper Shotgun article suggesting that POTGs focus on multiple players at once (thus allowing for more emphasis on teamwork), TesterGoneWild made a convincing video mock up:
It’s a classic combo: Zarya’s ult sucks everybody in, and Pharah’s blows them to pieces. As potrayed here, both players get credit, and the highlight swaps perspectives as needed. In the current system, only Pharah would’ve gotten POTG, and Zarya’s significant contribution would’ve been swiftly forgotten.
Of course, if upgrading the system was this simple, I imagine Blizzard would’ve already done it. POTGs are decided by an algorithm, and fine-tuning it so it picks up on these moments and their significance while also correctly allocating credit to multiple players only qualifies as a walk in the park if you consider the surface of the sun a park.
Still, it’s a neat idea, and I hope Blizzard’s taking notes. They’ve said on multiple occasions that they’re working to improve the system, but these things take time. I wish them the best of luck. They’ve got an uphill battle (with an avalanche of Winstons erupting from the top) ahead of them.