Overwatch 2 has broken its biggest promise. PvE mode is canceled and will not appear. The fans are fucking angry.
At first glance, it reads like a late and very bad April Fool’s joke. When Overwatch 2 was announced almost 4 years ago, the big selling point was the PvE mode that was to come. The heroes should be able to level up and unlock new abilities in a long, cooperative campaign.
But that dream died. Almost “in passing” was announced in a dev update: The PvE mode with character progression is history. It is no longer being worked on.
At the release of Kiriko the world still looked fine:
Overwatch 2: The animated short film about the fox heroine Kiriko
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What exactly was said? Jared Neuss, Executive Producer of Overwatch 2, explained how the decision came about in the Dev Talk video. Accordingly, one does not want to hold back content in Overwatch 2 for long and also underestimated how many resources it ties to provide Overwatch 2 with new content.
With everything we’ve learned about what it takes to keep this live game going, with what you deserve, we’ve realized that we’re not delivering the original version for PVE that we showed in 2019 can. What that means is this: we’re going to have this hero mode, with talent trees and long-term progression… those things aren’t in our plans anymore.
We know this will be disappointing for many of you, so we wanted to mention that before we talk about the roadmap. And to be honest, it’s been really hard for a lot of us too. Many in the team have put their hearts and souls into these things over the last few years.
What comes instead? However, Overwatch fans do not have to do without PvE content entirely. While that’s probably cold consolation, Overwatch 2 has released a pretty bulging roadmap that promises lots of PvE content like “Story Missions” and new events.
Season 6 is said to be the “biggest Overwatch release yet” – there are story missions in it, but also hero challenges for solo players, the new game mode “Flashpoint” and a new support hero. There will also be an improved player progression system. You can see the roadmap here:
This is the community’s reaction: Devastatingly negative. Many feel betrayed and betrayed. Whether it’s in the game’s subreddit or in the comments on YouTube, the developers and Blizzard in general are constantly being insulted. A few of the (not too harsh) opinions from the community:
Unbelievable. PvE was the ONLY REASON Overwatch 2 even existed, that was the thing it was advertised with. We wanted a campaign, a story to throw into, those skill trees looked amazing. I can’t believe all these promises are broken for some live service game nonsense for PvP that no one wanted. I’m thoroughly disappointed and from now on I just don’t care anymore.
gavo7911 on YouTube
Hotpotato481 sums up the feelings of many fans:
That’s not disappointing. The. Is. Devastating.
I don’t understand how a forma that built its reputation on creating some of the most popular stories out there, that primarily built PvE experiences with some multiplayer elements, now just drops a PvE vision like they don’t know more on how to build a skill tree. You have captured the fascination of so many people who have fallen in love with your game world. You were finding ways to give us a taste of this larger world.
You literally had lightning in the bottle with Overwatch.
Not only did you destroy the glass, you poisoned the ocean and killed the fish.
Demzicrisi6943 says:
Only Blizzard would ask itself, “Shall we stick with what makes our game unique and special?” And only Blizzard would answer “No!” to itself.
What do you think? Can you take it and keep playing Overwatch 2? Or is the game dead for you?