Blizzard has reportedly scrapped the planned PvE content for Overwatch 2, as fans once again wonder whether the sequel was a good idea.
Overwatch 2 has clearly struggled to generate the same popularity of the original, but a new report suggests the situation may be even worse than previously realised.
After launching without the promised PvE content in October 2022, Blizzard has since backtracked on the entire idea. In May last year, the ‘original vision’ for the PvE experience was scrapped, with single-player story missions announced instead.
A paid pack of three PvE story missions wase released in October last year, as part of season six, but, according to a new report, the rest of the planned missions have since been scrapped due to poor sales of the first batch.
It’s claimed the majority of the team behind Overwatch 2’s PvE mode was laid off in January, with Blizzard allegedly informing the rest of the developers that the company ‘does not plan to finish any of the remaining planned PvE content’.
According to Bloomberg, Blizzard plans to ‘double down’ on the competitive PvP portion instead.
The poor sales of Overwatch 2’s first round of PvE content is cited as a key reason why the developers apparently didn’t receive any profit-sharing bonus earlier this month.
This bonus was previously shared company-wide, based on the overall performance of the publisher, but last summer the policy changed so employees would instead only receive bonuses based on the performance of each specific franchise.
Based on the game’s financial performance in the first half of 2023, Overwatch 2 developers were reportedly told in August 2023 they ‘shouldn’t have received anything’, but that the company would ‘cover some of their bonuses to make up for the shortfall’. Earlier this month, however, it’s claimed Blizzard told developers they would receive ‘0% of their bonus targets’.
While a shift in priority to PvP might might financial sense for Activision, it further negates the point of there being an Overwatch 2 in the first place, since it’s so far added nothing that couldn’t have been in the original.
Blizzard hasn’t given up yet though and last week the company announced it would make all heroes available for free starting from the upcoming season 10, and will no longer lock them behind a premium battle pass.
Season 10 of Overwatch 2 is expected to launch on April 16.
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