Blizzard has buried the PvE mode of Overwatch 2. MyMMO demon Cortyn is furious because this only shows one thing: They still haven’t understood what really matters to fans.
The release of Overwatch 2 as a pure “multiplayer” experience already caused quite a stir at the end of 2022. But it didn’t matter. We were told that the PvE mode would come “sometime next year.” So my friends and I were full of hope. Just a few more weeks of despair in PvP to cement our “Bronze 5” ranking before we finally get the PvE mode.
That was what we always wanted. After all, the grand Overwatch cinematics opened up a huge world:
- I wanted to experience how Reinhardt and Ana completed their missions together back then.
- I wanted to be there when Widowmaker and Ana have a duel in which Ana ultimately loses her eye.
- I wanted to play how Doomfist rises to become the nasty underground boss.
- I wanted to see how the slightly crazy Sigma finds his place in Talon.
Since 2019, I was full of anticipation. A level of anticipation that I otherwise only had for truly grand titles like Mass Effect or a new Final Fantasy.
But now Blizzard has taken that joy away and has scrapped the PvE mode with the biggest bullshit explanation I’ve heard in a long, long time.
Blizzard realizes after 32 years that live games need attention
I am speechless. Even though we at MeinMMO haven’t reported on every leak – there were countless of them. Clips of cutscenes, insights into upcoming PvE maps, talent trees, and the course of the story. I was hyped. The absolutely grandiose Kiriko cinematic had multiplied my anticipation for everything to come.
What triggers me the most, however, is the justification. The PvE mode was scrapped because the live game with its seasons and events requires so much attention and energy. Unfortunately, there’s not enough strength and energy left to develop a “completely separate game” on the side.
Really, Blizzard? A company that has been running live games like World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, and Diablo for many years, providing regular updates and seasons, suddenly realizes that it takes a lot of energy and developers for that?
A company known for great game worlds and fantastic PvE experiences now has to sheepishly say in a dev update on a completely different topic: “Yes, we can’t do it in the quality you deserve.”
You really want to tell this to the fans who have been waiting for the game for years?
The frustration is great – and absolutely justified
I think little of insulting or even threatening developers – unfortunately, that is happening again and is always the wrong reaction. But the underlying frustration of hundreds of thousands of fans who have been waiting for Overwatch 2 for years and are now disappointed by the question about the PvE mode in the form of “Ah, eto … bleh!”-memes is unfathomable to me.
To put it a bit casually: “I’m maxed out on handling your bullshit.”
When Jeff Kaplan left the Overwatch team, I clung to the thin straw that his vision of a PvE mode was already well advanced. Now I have to bitterly and frustratedly realize that the Dinoflask parody contains more truth than any of us could ever imagine:
I really hope that Blizzard has miscalculated here. I hope they underestimate how many people are actually playing Overwatch 2 “only” because they are waiting for the PvE mode. At least in the comments on the game’s subreddit or on YouTube, the crowd is being loud right now. Many want to turn their backs on Overwatch 2, and their love for the game has been completely killed by this announcement. A roadmap with many band-aids doesn’t help, which cynics only see as “new items in the shop with mini-event.”
I have sympathy for the developers who have been working with enthusiasm on this big PvE mode for the last 4 to 5 years and now have to accept that a large part of their work will never be released. That all those thousands of hours of work simply evaporate – because Blizzard, unfortunately for the umpteenth time, has failed its own requirements and chooses the easiest way out.
Maybe the “hero missions” that are supposed to come in season 6 will be really great. Maybe the new game mode will be really fun. Maybe the support hero will be super.
But you know what? I don’t care anymore. I really thought that after the debacle of Warcraft III: Reforged something like this couldn’t happen a second time.
But that’s about the only positive thing in this story, Blizzard. You still manage to surprise me. I just wish it didn’t hurt so much.
