If you are like me and a big fan of the characters and interactions of Overwatch 2, you probably were excited to see how they fit in the story and world of Overwatch. When we saw the announcement of Overwatch 2 and heard that it was emphasizing the stories and characters of the world, I was ecstatic. Even when the news came out that Overwatch 2 would release as PvP first and get rid of Overwatch 1, they still confirmed that the previous promises regarding the PVE emphasis would be coming later as they managed the work on one game better than two games together.
Sadly we got an announcement today that squashes those dreams during a live stream roadmap from Blizzard.
Basically they have shifted their focus more on the live service aspect of Overwatch 2, PvP, battle passes, new characters and skins. On one hand it is good that they have announced this, on the other hand, it is hugely depressing for those of us wanting to experience the world and story of the game Overwatch 2 resides in. They talked about axing off the talents and skill trees that were initially confirmed to be in the big PvE story campaign as they cut out the campaign but still want to keep some of the missions that were worked on. The new reworked story missions will come in season 6 of Overwatch 2 but it will be more inline with archives missions than what we were initially confirmed as full scale story campaign missions.
In case you don’t know, Archives missions are from Overwatch that take place in the footsteps of four different heroes from the game as they work together to accomplish objectives. Objectives range from killing enemies for a set time, reaching a destination, or protecting an area from enemies for a set amount of time. They are generally small scale experiences.
Overwatch 2 is on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S|X, Nintendo Switch, and PC.