Developers Worried Overwatch 2 Story Missions May Be Axed
- Concerns over Overwatch 2's story missions
- Changes in the game since 2019 announcement
- Challenges in developing the game's story mode
- The impact of "Blizzard Quality" on development
- The future and hope for Overwatch 2's story missions
Overwatch 2: Concerns Over the Game's State
Over the past few months, Overwatch 2 fans have expressed growing concern about the state of the game's story missions. These missions were a major selling point when the game was first announced at Blizzcon 2019, touted as an exciting new feature that justified the creation of a new game rather than simply updating the original.
However, despite launching in October 2022, only one set of missions has been released as of August 2023, with no further releases currently planned. This has led to speculation that the story missions are being deprioritized, particularly following the recent layoffs at Xbox, which affected developers working on these missions.
Overwatch 2: Is it Worth the Investment?
The game has changed significantly since its 2019 announcement, with the original promise of a sequel that would coexist with the first game giving way to a free-to-play title that replaced the original game entirely. In addition, the original 6v6 ruleset has been rendered unplayable, and the promised PvE modes and Hero Mode have been scrapped.
Now, there are only three 30-minute missions available, and these are relegated to the smallest section of the game's mode screen. This has led to fears among the development team that their years of work may never see the light of day.
The Challenges of Developing Overwatch 2's Story Mode
According to a former developer, the plan was to release the game's campaign in multiple content drops over several years. However, the project has been plagued by pipeline issues for more than five years. The team was told that the intent was to release three missions every 18 months, but the entire campaign is not yet ready to ship. However, every mission is reportedly in some degree of completion at Blizzard.
A significant obstacle to the development of the story missions was the pursuit of "Blizzard Quality", a term used to describe a high standard that the company aims to achieve. This was frequently used as an excuse to avoid making decisions that would move the development of the story missions forward.
Overwatch 2: The Future
Despite the challenges, there is still hope for the future of Overwatch 2's story missions. Internal sentiment about the missions is reported to be increasingly pessimistic, but not outright negative. As concerns about the missions' progress grew, leadership would attempt to rally the team and, in some cases, avoid addressing questions entirely.
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