While Overwatch has been making slow strides towards reintroducing some of the PvE content that was originally planned for the competitive shooter, resulting in the development of the sequel, the team has slowed down on this. In an interview with TheGamer, game director Aaron Keller has said that the team is still open to more PvE content for the game. However, a full-fledged campaign would be much more challenging, and would likely need a separate game altogether.
“When you look at the campaign that we ran, I think that while there was a lot of excitement there, and it did drive the story forward, it didn’t really get played the way that we wanted it to,” said Keller when asked about the PvE content that has been released for Overwatch so far. It also doesn’t help that the content needed a considerable amount of development resources, which has likely played a role in the Overwatch team deciding to just use cinematics to continue the in-game story instead.
However, on the subject of whether we could see more PvE content in the future, Keller said, “I would never discount it.” Smaller experiences, he noted, were likely to happen as long as their development didn’t affect the work on the core competitive game modes of Overwatch. He also said a comprehensive story experience would need “a whole new game” developed by a separate team.
Overwatch 2 – now known as Overwatch – launched to a rocky reception, with many complaining about various changes made to the team-based hero shooter. However, in more recent times, the title has been praised for its new roster additions as well as other content that has been added to it over time.
As for why Blizzard decided to remove the “2” from the game’s title, Keller and live service head Walter Kong said earlier this year that it essentially came down to the team not wanting to make players worry about a potential Overwatch 3. Interestingly, Kong said that he would likely have never named it Overwatch 2 to begin with.
“What would I change if we could go back? Probably not call it Overwatch 2. But when I look back at that period, I do think that it was a positive period for us, because we made an important transition. We made a transition to an ongoing live game, and that wasn’t easy. It was really, really hard.
“It was a necessary period of challenge that we had to get through to get to where we are today. I don’t think we could jump straight here. Just thinking back to what we experienced during those years makes me feel a bit exhausted, but it is what’s allowed us to take Overwatch into the future.”
Keller reaffirmed this by noting that the renaming was a promise to players that Overwatch would be a “forever game.” However, he went on to admit that “Never is a big word to say” when it comes to an actual Overwatch 3. In the meantime, however, the “intention is to continue supporting this game, this competitive hero-based, team-based shooter, for as far into the future as our players will continue playing.”
Overwatch is available for free on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and Nintendo Switch 2.
