Against all odds, Blizzard Entertainment’s Overwatch 2 has made a comeback of sorts, off the back of Perks, the new Stadium mode and overhauled progression. It’s all thanks to a new “annual” approach to updates, which game director Aaron Keller describes as starting every year “with a huge, game-defining moment” and following it “with a big mid-year beat.”
“At the time, we weren’t sure if we were ready to commit to this annual cadence since it was untested for us,” said Keller in a new Director’s Take. “We worried that making changes to the core game could turn people away from it. Fortunately, you’ve reacted pretty positively, so we made plans to do the same thing this year with the release of Perks in Season 15.
“When I look back at the history of our releases in Overwatch, I think we’ve been too conservative. As we release more game-defining features, it seems to increase your excitement for the future of the game. It does the same for us! Coming away from that lesson, I can now say that we’re happily pursuing this cadence as the general direction for the ‘Overwatch year.'”
Keller even confirmed that next year would kick off with “something huge that changes the way people think about playing the game and I think we’re getting comfortable making these bigger and bigger each year. We also want to follow that excitement up with a mid-year season that doubles down on those features and emphasizes improvements to existing gameplay elements.”
What this could be is anyone’s guess – a revival of the cancelled PvE Hero Missions seems unlikely, but Keller has talked about Overwatch “firing on all cylinders” when it returns to the world and lore. Potential new story missions would be interesting, even if Invasion pretty much came and went.
Regardless, stay tuned for updates. Overwatch 2: Season 18 is live and adds a new Support hero, Wuyang, who uses water to heal allies and knock back foes. It also introduced Drafts, new heroes, and maps like Route 66 and London to Stadium alongside 60 new Perks.
