It has been over two years since Blizzard Entertainment first announced Overwatch 2. Still, today's midseason livestream finally gave players a better idea of what the game will offer - and unfortunately, it includes some unwelcome news.
Blizzard Decides to Cancel Plans for PvE Mode and Focus on Story Missions
Blizzard has decided to scrap the originally planned PvE mode, which would have featured long-term progression and talent trees. This mode was intended to be essentially the game's "campaign" portion, featuring co-op missions designed to be replayable.
Unfortunately, Blizzard found that this long-term development was unsustainable and had "no end in sight," leading to them cancelling these plans and instead focusing on story missions.
Abandoning the 'Hero Mission' Feature: Focusing on a More Realistic Mode
Regarding Overwatch 2, Blizzard's mission to bring an immersive PvE experience to its passionate fans has had a difficult journey, to say the least. This is particularly evident with abandoning the originally planned "hero mission" feature, which would have featured co-op play, long-term progression and talent trees.
According to the story by PC Gamer, Blizzard game director Aaron Keller said that in coming to this difficult decision, the team focused on a game mode that they felt was much more realistic to deliver.
New Story Missions and Support Hero: On the Overwatch Roadmap
Although the "Hero Mission" is now abandoned, Blizzard has committed to pushing forward a narrative arc that will bring story missions in its place whilst also still delivering further PvP content. Fans can check out the Overwatch roadmap on Twitter.
As outlined in a midseason live stream, these story missions will ensure the Overwatch narrative moving forward is taken care of for the first time since the original release. But this isn't the only feature on the agenda; Blizzard also has plans to deliver a new Support Hero and various new modes in the Season 6 update.
New Tank Hero, Control Map, and Collaboration Event for Overwatch Season 7
In that season, "Hero Mastery" missions will feature single-player time trials to test and hone players' movement and aim with specified heroes. There's also talk of a limited-time event called "Questwatch," which will be featured in Season 5 alongside further hero reworks for Roadhog and Sombra.
Season 7 continues the update with a new tank hero, control map and collaboration event, bringing something new to the game. Whilst Overwatch 2 was already heralded as a flashy and entertaining addition to the franchise, with these further updates, the game will surely capture an audience far greater than the original Overwatch ever did.
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Exploring the New and Improved Features of Overwatch 2
With more reports and announcements due to come out about exactly what these updates will bring, here's looking forward to a wider and better-developed Overwatch 2 experience. A previous dev log video from 2021 showed multiple hero missions.
Only time will tell if these additions are enough to make Overwatch 2 the game we wanted, but Blizzard has certainly done what it can to ensure the players have plenty to look forward to.
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