Blizzard should treat Overwatch like Call of Duty – that was Bobby Kotick’s wish. A mistake that has permanently damaged the franchise.
The story of Overwatch is likely one of the more tragic ones in recent gaming history. Overwatch was one of the best shooters on the market and had the potential to dominate the genre for many years. However, questionable decisions caused Blizzard’s hero shooter to slowly lose relevance, and the sequel Overwatch 2 failed to deliver on many promises.
The blame lies – who would have thought – primarily with Bobby Kotick, the then CEO of Activision Blizzard. At least that’s what Jason Schreier claims in his new book.
Who claims that? Jason Schreier is quite well-known for publishing many revealing articles and has lots of contacts with Blizzard employees – hardly any journalist knows Blizzard’s internal processes better than Schreier. In his book “Play Nice: The Rise, Fall and Future of Blizzard Entertainment,” he discusses the various games and decisions that were made.
What does it say? Overwatch was a mega-success. So successful that the team no longer wanted to handle the demands. Not only was Overwatch 1 supposed to be developed further, but in the background work on the PvE mode should also take place, along with aiding the Overwatch esports league. Too much for the team. An excerpt from the book states:
Kotick’s solution to the problem was the suggestion that Team 4 should hire more people. Hundreds of people, like his Call of Duty factory. And then they would start a second team that would work on Overwatch 2 while the old team continued to work on Overwatch 1 (or vice versa).
The suggestion was not well received by the key Overwatch developers, as Schreier continues:
[Jeff] Kaplan and Chacko Sonny resisted it because they strongly believed in the culture they had built (more people can sometimes lead to more problems and a less efficient development) and this led to a multitude of issues as the years went by.
How did it all end? This is likely already known to most. Overwatch 1 was pretty much dormant for a while. Many months passed during which there was virtually no new content, and interest in the game waned. Kaplan and other developers left Blizzard – and when Overwatch 2 was released, the major feature, the PvE mode, was entirely missing. At first, there was still a promise that the mode would be added later, but a year later, they admitted: It won’t be coming anymore.
Although there was still an attempt to bring some other small PvE missions, that too was eventually shelved.
A “betrayal” that many fans have not forgiven the developers to this day.
Overwatch 2 continues to be actively developed, but focuses completely on PvP content (such as new heroes, maps, or balancing changes) and occasional seasonal game modes. There is also quite strong monetization with a Battle Pass and many premium skins at high prices – like a recent weapon skin that was quite expensive.
Meanwhile, Kotick is no longer with Blizzard after Microsoft acquired the company.
In recent days, more excerpts from the book are being published, and it becomes clear that the many rumors of the past likely had a kernel of truth. Bobby Kotick had long been considered unpopular with employees (and the gaming community), but that he was actually directly or indirectly responsible for the departure of key personnel had only been suspected until now.
