Overwatch 2’s PvE has reportedly been canceled after the first batch of story missions sold poorly.
Blizzard has decided to cancel all future OW2 PvE and focus on the competitive PvP experience going forward according to Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier.
Last year, Overwatch 2 released what was slated to be the first patch of PvE content for the game with its Season 6 ‘Invasion’ that included 3 story missions.
The missions sold so poorly that Blizzard made the decision to axe future PvE content and lay off the majority of the devs involved in the PvE missions.
Furthermore, the poor sales resulted in the devs receiving 0% of the company’s profit-sharing bonuses this month.
Upon release, the missions were met with mixed reviews. The PvE was a shell of the PvE experience that was promised when Overwatch 2 was first announced. Gone were the “highly replayable” Hero Mode missions and an upgradable talent tree and instead fans got something more akin to OW1’s free archive missions.
“We struggled to find our footing with the Hero Mission experience early on. Scope grew. We were trying to do too many things at once and we lost focus,” Game Director Aaron Keller explained shortly after announcing the decision to cut a large portion of the game’s PvE.
Since then, the devs have changed their focus to the PvP, but that doesn’t mean Overwatch 2’s story will end here.
“Decisions like these are in service to our community and based on feedback, which is also good for our business and the future of the game,” Blizzard spokesperson Andrew Reynolds said. “[We’re] exploring new experiences, big and small, which will push the frontiers of the Overwatch universe.”
This news comes just days after a Kotaku report revealed some of the struggles the team faced developing the PvE content inside a game designed for PvP combat. Many former employees also blamed Blizzard execs for hindering their progress on the mode.
