Most Broken Video Game Characters: Brigitte
The Search for the Most Broken Video Game Character
Once upon a time, Overwatch was relatively balanced. But like all hero-based, class-based, and specialty-driven games, some characters naturally became more popular than others. Among the least favored roles was the healer. To address this, Blizzard introduced Moira—a Support hero who blurred the lines between healing and damage-dealing. Her design marked a shift in Blizzard’s approach: creating new heroes not just to add variety, but to actively reshape how the game was played.
Over the next year, the "Dive" meta took over. Dive was a fast, aggressive, and highly coordinated strategy focused on overwhelming enemy healers. It was so effective that many players began to argue the game had become unbalanced, prompting some to abandon it altogether.
Enter Brigitte.
Released in March 2018, Brigitte was purpose-built to counter Dive. However, it didn’t take long for pro players to start complaining that she was too powerful. Not only did she offer solid healing and a near-impenetrable shield, but her crowd-control abilities were game-changing. She could hit multiple enemies with her primary attack and, more controversially, her shield bash could stun opponents—even through barriers.
GOATS
GOATS: An aggressive, close-range team composition built around three tanks and three supports. It was named after the North American Open Division team, GOATS, which popularized the strategy.
In this setup, the three tanks formed a durable frontline, using their shields and massive health bars to push forward relentlessly. Meanwhile, the three supports worked in sync to keep the tanks alive, creating a near-unstoppable wall of sustained pressure.
As the GOATS meta took over Overwatch at every level of play, gone were the fast-paced, flashy, high-skill moments that casual players and spectators loved from Damage heroes. Instead, matches became drawn-out wars of attrition, filled with endless healing, high health bars, and low damage output. Many found these slow, grindy games painfully dull to watch. As viewership plummeted and player frustration grew louder, Blizzard came under increasing pressure to rebalance Overwatch to the dynamic, viewer-friendly spectacle it once was.
After months of trying to nerf Brigitte and adjust other heroes in hopes of shaking up the meta, GOATS continued to dominate. Eventually, Blizzard realized that tweaking individual characters wasn’t enough—if they wanted real change, they would have to change the game itself.
2-2-2
2-2-2 Role Lock was a game-changing character selection system introduced in July 2019 that permanently locked team compositions to two Tanks, two Supports, and two Damage-Dealers. This decisive move officially ended the reign of the GOATS 3-3 composition.
Since Overwatch launched, the 2-2-2 structure had always been seen as the "ideal" team setup—widely believed to be the most balanced way to play. But until Role Lock, it was just that: an idea. Players were free to build teams with any combination of heroes, as long as they didn’t pick duplicate characters. With the arrival of Role Lock, Blizzard turned this long-standing, unwritten rule into a hard-set, unbreakable law.
Few characters in gaming history have reshaped their games as profoundly as Brigitte did in Overwatch. She didn’t just counter a meta—she shattered it, birthed a new one, and ultimately forced Blizzard to rebuild the game’s competitive structure from the ground up.
