Skip to main content

With PVE mode canceled, Overwatch 2 just isn’t the game for me

When Overwatch 2 was first announced, I had good reason to be excited. I always enjoyed the series’ first installment, but I always wished there was more to it. As someone who’s not a skilled competitive player, I wanted more ways to interact with the shooter that didn’t just involve me going on big losing streaks. So I was elated when Blizzard announced it would bring a full PVE mode to the sequel. Finally, I’d have a way to get invested in the world and characters of Overwatch and progress through a solo campaign while doing it.

It turns out that dream was a fantasy. In a recent interview with Gamespot, game director Aaron Keller revealed that plans for the mode had been scrapped. Overwatch 2 would still get some story content bundled in with new seasons, but the grand vision for a Hero mode with its own skill trees was no more. Not only that, but plans had changed a year and a half ago — something that was never communicated to fans when the game’s multiplayer component launched last October.

Recommended Videos

That leaves Overwatch 2 in an awkward spot, as the incomplete version that launched last year now appears to be the final content suite after all. And while I’m sure some competitive-focused players won’t care too much, the fiasco has fully eroded my already tenuous relationship with the hero shooter. I’m not sure I’ll ever return to Overwatch 2, though perhaps that’s an outcome Blizzard has ultimately made peace with too.

A mutual break-up

When Overwatch 2’s multiplayer component launched, I felt like I had to play a game of “Spot the Difference” to figure out what was new. The sequel got an upgraded art style, a few new characters, and a change to team sizes, but all of those changes felt like updates that could have been applied to Overwatch. Granted, some of its balance tweaks were a much bigger deal for fans who’d sunk hundreds of hours into the game so far.

The only major change from a casual perspective was its pivot to a free-to-play format, which brought a season structure and a paid battle pass to the game. That would replace its predecessors’ loot box system, which would be a positive step on paper. However, that would wind up raising pay-to-win concerns as new heroes were locked behind paywalls (or unrealistically long grinds to unlock them naturally).

Genji slashes a robot in Overwatch 2.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

As an outsider who only enjoyed Overwatch on a casual level, that left me feeling a little cold on its October release. While I played a few enjoyable rounds the first few days it was out, I quickly resolved to circle back to the game in a proper way once Hero mode dropped. My hope was that I could hone my skills there and that would in turn make me a better competitive player. It’s a similar approach that I took with Destiny originally, getting the hang of its controls in strikes and raids before testing my skills in the Crucible.

What I didn’t know was that Hero mode was never coming at all – but Blizzard did. In the GameSpot interview, Aaron Keller outlined some of the troubles Blizzard faced with trying to develop a live service game as intricate as Overwatch. In order to avoid a situation where multiplayer suffered as the team worked on PVE, the plans for Hero mode changed. “It was about a year and a half ago that we made the decision to really shift strategy,” Keller tells GameSpot. “That’s when we rapidly shifted the resources on our team to work on launching Overwatch 2, and that’s what came out last October.”

I can’t help but feel a little disappointed, and I’m sure a lot of players in my boat are too right now. Though what stings isn’t so much that the mode was scrapped. Features are walked back in games all the time; it’s a normal part of game development that I’m used to. Rather, it’s a little shocking to learn that plans for the mode had already been scrapped long before the multiplayer launched. Considering that I planned to play PVE to sharpen my skills, I had been tempted to start investing in season passes to make sure I wasn’t missing out on content I’d want in PVP when I gained the confidence to start it. Thankfully I didn’t make those purchases, but I’m left wondering how many people did under false pretenses about the game’s future.

Mercy and Winston standing side by side
Image used with permission by copyright holder

All of that has broken my trust in Overwatch 2 to the point where I’m not likely to return to it again — and I imagine that the team at Blizzard may have expected that. The shift away from a dedicated PVE mode seems to indicate that Blizzard is doubling down on the bought-in competitive community rather than trying to entice casual players like me. There will still be some story missions included in future seasons, but those will be more of a side-activity than a primary mode.

In that sense, I can appreciate that Blizzard has made the kind of decisive stance the wishy-washy sequel has been lacking since its launch — even if it should have been made much sooner. Players in my situation needed clarity into whether or not the sequel would cater to their more casual desires. It simply won’t be a game for me, especially considering I have no interest in spending money on it. Both Blizzard and I will be better off in that mutual break-up, I’m sure.

Giovanni Colantonio
As Digital Trends' Senior Gaming Editor, Giovanni Colantonio oversees all things video games at Digital Trends. As a veteran…
It’s beginning to feel like gaming isn’t for everyone
Mario and Peach racing in the foreground of a screenshot of Mario Kart World.

Over the years, the Nintendo brand has shifted to meet the times, but through it all, it's at least felt synonymous with one image (or turn of phrase, I guess): E for Everyone. Over the decades, the legendary developer and publisher has always had an ethos that has guided its games and consoles into the hands of gamers regardless of age and background. With the Switch 2, it's beginning to feel that that may not be true anymore.

The Switch 2 was fully unveiled earlier this month, and despite the fervor and excitement surrounding it, there's been a pretty noticeable tension around its various exorbitant prices. The system itself was tentatively priced at $450 and a bundle including Mario Kart World was coming in at $500 before the threat of US tariffs on every conceivable stretch of land -- even those with no human life on them -- forced Nintendo's hand, delaying preorders in the US and Canada. The thinking is that when they do become available, they will have already experienced a price hike, which is wild considering the fact that the newest Mario Kart game alone was being sold at the prohibitive cost of $80.

Read more
Blizzard is finally taking the guardrails off of Overwatch 2
Genji slashes an enemy in Overwatch 2.

Since its launch, Blizzard’s free-to-play hero shooter Overwatch 2 has been through some serious peaks and valleys. Originally pitched as a sequel that would exist alongside the beloved original game and offer a new, layered PvE mode that expanded upon its hero’s abilities, the game players got in October 2022 was very different.

Overwatch 2 replaced the original game entirely, removed a player from every match (going from 6v6 to 5v5), and never delivered the promised PvE mode. The free-to-play swap came with accusations of predatory pricing and pay-to-win schemes, and back in August 2023, Activision Blizzard even admitted players were playing and spending less.

Read more
Ninja Gaiden 2 Black reminds me just how much games have changed
Ryu faces a boss in Ninja Gaiden 2 Black.

I still vividly remember Ninja Gaiden 2’s launch in 2008 even though I never played it. It may be hard to imagine now, but back in the 2000s, Team Ninja’s hack-and-slash series was briefly on the Mount Rushmore of action games (depending on who you talked to). It was praised for its stylish hyperviolence and its extreme challenge, earning Team Ninja the kind of loyal following from action aficionados that FromSoftware would begin to amass as the 2010s rolled around. Its star quickly faded in 2012 after the divisive Ninja Gaiden 3, but I still remember the series as a pillar of the early Xbox age.

It was those decades of memories that buzzed around me as I downloaded Ninja Gaiden 2 Black, a surprise remake revealed and released during this week’s Xbox Developer Direct. After admiring the series from afar for such a long time, I’d finally get to see what made Ninja Gaiden such a foundation action series. Instead, I spent my first hour with it scratching my head. This is the game people made such a big fuss about?

Read more