The story of Blizzard Entertainment’s Overwatch 2 and PvE still haunts hardcore players. Announced as offering a campaign and replayable Hero Mode, the latter was cancelled, and the former pared down heavily following the game’s “early access” launch. While it would eventually receive three paid co-op PvE missions last year, the possibility of more looks unlikely.
Sources speaking to Kotaku revealed that Activision Blizzard wanted these missions to do “serious numbers,” but they “did not do well at all” financially or in terms of player response. It also doesn’t help that several development team members laid off in January 2024 by Microsoft were those involved in PvE.
“If they’re gonna make more of that stuff, they just laid off all the people working on it. Maybe there’s some other way they could do it, but most people laid off from the Overwatch team were working on that pillar,” said a source. While competitive PvP remained the focus, many on the team felt the story and PvE should have stood alongside it.
Unfortunately, the future of subsequent story missions seems to be in limbo. One source notes, “It really doesn’t seem like, even from a business perspective, that Activision or Microsoft have any faith in the PvE.”
Overwatch 2 is available for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, PC and Nintendo Switch. Season 10 will receive a new Developer Update today, potentially showcasing Venture, the next hero.
