Overwatch 2 Just Canceled A Long-Awaited Mode, And Fans Aren’t Happy
The long-awaited PVE story mode for Overwatch 2 is reportedly being cut down drastically.
Following the inclusion of a popular anime character to the game and introducing a surprising way of punishing cheaters—all of which were hilarious, and in a good way—Blizzard announced that the PVE (player vs. environment) mode for Overwatch 2 isn’t going to be what the company promised. The long-awaited mode is receiving revisions so extensive that we might as well consider it canceled and turned into something else.
According to Kotaku, Overwatch 2’s Aaron Keller and the game’s executive producer Jared Neuss stated that the long-awaited PVE mode, touted as the natural evolution of Overwatch 2, won’t release in its originally intended state. For those who aren’t familiar with the situation, Blizzard promised an evolved PVE content that included RPG elements back in 2019 when the game was announced. After the game was attacked by hackers at launch, followed by some internal issues, Blizzard decided to delay the game’s new PVE to 2023 before this news hit.
The devs now state that the PVE won’t be a separate team multiplayer RPG experience; instead, the PVE campaign will follow in the same vein as Overwatch 2’s other themed events. This doesn’t really affect competitive PVP players, but it does spoil the fun for those who want to enjoy some of the game’s canon in a more traditional, role-playing manner.
It would seem that the decision to abandon or rework the PVE element is for the good of the gaming title and its live multiplayer component. That’s really unfortunate since the PVE mode was supposed to justify the “2” in the game’s title.
Instead of the previously announced Overwatch 2 PVE element, we’re getting a new limited-time event in the current season and some pretty interesting things in the upcoming Season 6—which should finally make Overwatch 2 into a standalone title and not a rework of the original Overwatch. These include Story Missions, a new Support class hero, a Flashpoint event, and Hero Mastery, which will grant player hero-specific training modules aimed at solo play. It would seem that Fortni… pardon; Overwatch 2 is finally coming into its own.
Blizzard has been struggling to maintain its position as one of the leaders in gaming following the massive controversies and legal battles surrounding the company. The gaming community noticed a dip in quality when it came to games, and while the announced acquisition by Microsoft seemed to have lifted some spirits within the company—the new World of Warcraft expansion is pretty praised—those spirits have been crushed by UK’s CMA blocking the acquisition. And that could be one of the reasons why Overwatch 2 PVE was canceled.
To be entirely honest, there was a slight dip in content quality in Overwatch 2, which probably resulted in the majority of the team working on the PVE. Apparently, Blizzard decided to scrap the idea in favor of a live-service segment—the moneymaker, the profit driver, the golden goose—instead of giving players what they want. Then again, we might lack the creative vision Bobby Kotick, and the rest of Blizzard have when it comes to gaming.
