Brotaku

Blizzard Entertainment has confirmed that the larger player-versus-enemy content for Overwatch 2 has been cancelled and that the game would instead get smaller PVE missions from season 6 onwards. The new PVE missions will be similar to the PVE missions that were included during events in the first Overwatch game. The PVE-specific skill trees, abilities and larger story content have all been scrapped which begs the question, what exactly was the point of Overwatch 2 and more importantly, what the hell has Blizzard been doing since 2020?

Overwatch fans supported the game when Blizzard left it to die, since releasing Echo in 2020 virtually no new content was added to the game. As Apex and Fortnite got new content we got balance adjustments that catered the game towards pro players and yet we still stuck around. The thing is, you can only take so much before you say enough is enough. Then came Overwatch 2. Overwatch 2 was to revitalize the game by adding new content and removing those dreaded loot boxes, what it turned out to be was the same turd in new wrapping paper.

Overwatch 2 arrived with minor cosmetic changes and a new character, a decent start yes, but it also arrived with a broken in-game economy. The game launched with a new battlepass which was pretty pathetic, especially when you consider that it launched with zero story content and you didn’t make enough to get the next battlepass for free. All of this however was defended by Gamers™ because the game was “free” and the paid content was only “cosmetics”.

You might be thinking that this is an overreaction but here’s how bad the economy system truly is. If you’ve been playing Overwatch 2 from launch, and worked through all the challenges you’d now have earned enough coins to buy ONE legendary skin from Overwatch 2. So after about 33 weeks of work, you get a single skin. During the same period in Overwatch, you’d be able to get at least 5 and you wouldn’t have to play as much. The cost of all the cosmetic content from Overwatch was also increased in Overwatch 2 and even after adjusting the prices it still remains more expensive.

But hey, the game is free so this is all fine right? Blizzard cancelled the very reason Overwatch 2 was justified, now you’re expected to pay for the battlepass and get similar PVE missions that you got for free in the first game. Blizzard Team 4 has over 300 developers working solely on Overwatch 2, so what the hell have they been doing? If the bulk of the new content is now scrapped what was the point of it all?

The sad thing is, Gamers™ will forget about all of this the next time Blizzard releases the next new character to pass its diversity checklist. And more importantly, I’m sure Blizzard won’t do the same things with Diablo IV…no I’m sure Diablo will be handled differently. Diablo IV is due out in June, it will also include paid cosmetic DLC and a battlepass.