Overwatch 2’s story-driven PvE missions are being abandoned by Blizzard

By Tomas Franzese March 22, 2024

A giant turret in set up in Gothenburg in Overwatch 2's story missions. — Blizzard Entertainment

Overwatch 2 finally got some of its long-awaited PvE content last August, but it doesn’t look like more is on the way, according to some new reports.

Earlier this week, a story from Kotaku indicated that the future of Overwatch 2’s story-driven PvE missions was in question after the first batch of missions, which were released as paid DLC for a free-to-play game and sold poorly. Now, a new report from Bloomberg affirms that. As part of a newsletter outlining wider frustrations Blizzard’s developers have with how the company ties profit-sharing bonuses to the performance of games that specific teams make, Bloomberg touched on how the Overwatch 2 team’s bonuses were negatively impacted by the failure of the PvE content. A lot of that PvE team was apparently laid off in January when Microsoft cut 1,900 games-related jobs, and sources now tell Bloomberg that Blizzard does not plan to finish its previously planned PvE content.

In a statement to Bloomberg, Blizzard explained that this is happening because Overwatch 2 is “focusing on the foundation team-based experience, building the game alongside our players, and more quickly addressing their feedback.” Still, that argument is a tough sell when one considers that Overwatch 2 was initially announced and positioned as a game with a heavy PvE focus.

I found its cooperative PvE missions released last August to actually be quite enjoyable, and their narrative left off on a cliffhanger. It’s a shame we won’t get to see the developer at Blizzard see that vision through. As Overwatch 2 begins to focus solely on PvP, Blizzard has also made the decision to offer all new heroes for free, rather than tying them to the battle pass.

Overwatch 2 is a free-to-play game available for PC, PlayStation 4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch.

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Tomas Franzese is a Staff Writer at Digital Trends, where he reports on and reviews the latest releases and exciting…

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