These missions were a pillar of the sequel’s initial pitch at Blizzcon 2019, the shiny new thing that merited making a new game instead of patching the original one, like most live-service projects.
But since Overwatch 2’s October 2022 launch, only one set of missions has been released (in August 2023).
Currently, there is no release window for more.
For Blizzard, the January Xbox layoffs primarily affected developers working on those missions.
What’s more, recent changes to Overwatch 2’s menus suggest story missions are, at the very least, being deprioritized.
Since the 2019 announcement, Overwatch 2 has transformed into something almost unrecognizable from those original promises.
What was pitched as a sequel that would exist alongside the first hero shooter became a free-to-play title that completely replaced the first game, leaving the original 6v6 ruleset unplayable.
Blizzard gutted the promised PvE modes and outright canceled Hero Mode, which would have added replayable levels and customizable skill trees.
Now, there are just three, 30-minute missions available (and those are relegated to the smallest section of Overwatch 2’s game mode screen.)
Now, some of the developers fear their years of work won’t see the light of day.
AdvertisementKotaku chatted with several ex-Blizzard employees (all of whom spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution) about the past, present, and future of Overwatch 2’s campaign missions.
AdvertisementThe difficulties of developing Overwatch 2’s story modeAccording to a former developer, Blizzard’s plan was to release Overwatch 2’s campaign in “multiple content drops over several years,” but the project had been tied up in pipeline issues dating back more than five years.
The team was told the intent was to drop three missions around “every 18 months.” They add that while the entire campaign may not be ready to ship yet, every mission is reportedly in some degree of completion at Blizzard.
According to that same source, those levels range from fully playable to still in-concept.
AdvertisementWork on the campaign missions was apparently held up in pursuit of a nebulous thing called “Blizzard Quality,” a term used to describe a standard the company aspires to.
According to one source, this became a crutch that was frequently used to avoid making calls that would move the development of story missions forward.
“[Blizzard Quality] is a justification to essentially piss about forever and ever redoing the same work over and over,” the source said.
“Some executive goes, ‘Hm, but is it Blizzard quality?’ It’s always leadership or game directors, deciding they need to spend the extra time.
So honestly, if they could have just made any kind of decisions, the game would have shipped years ago.”AdvertisementAnother source said this reliance on “Blizzard Quality” may have contributed to frequent iterations on the original concept, but that wasn’t the only issue the team faced while trying to work on Overwatch 2’s story missions.
Advertisement“Overwatch’s PvP gameplay just turned out to be very difficult to adapt for PvE.
Mostly because of how differentiated and PvP-oriented the hero kits are,” the source told Kotaku via text message.
Sources described internal sentiment around the story missions as “never outright negative” but “increasingly pessimistic.” One source said that as concerns grew about how they were shaping up, leadership (including director Aaron Keller and executive director Jared Neuss) would try to rally the team and in some cases, avoid questions entirely.
Advertisement“You had designers, programmers, artists, QA, all disciplines, on the team constantly making suggestions and ideas to improve, or trying to do the best we could.
But it was all either shot down by a few gatekeepers or just ‘there was no point, there was no time,’” they told Kotaku.
“Almost every single team town-hall there were questions about ‘what do we do if it doesn’t succeed?
I don’t feel confident that it will perform well.
What are we going to do about players being disappointed?’ It was met with either ‘don’t worry about it.
It’ll be fine.
We have so much confidence in it.
Trust us.’”“If they could have just made any kind of decisions, the game would have shipped years ago.”AdvertisementSources say that while Overwatch 2 was pitched to fans as a fresh start with new ideas and new content, the game’s competitive suite was always the priority, and the story missions suffered because of it.
This lines up with what Blizzard has openly stated, like Keller’s May 2023 announcement that the team was gutting its planned PvE modes to prioritize the live game.
But the decision to cancel Hero Mode was reportedly made as late in the development process as December 2022, two months after the game’s early access launch, and six months before the company made the official announ
The condition of the story missions in Overwatch 2, a hero shooter game, has become a source of concern for fans in recent months. These missions formed the cornerstone of the sequel’s original pitch at Blizzcon 2019, the bright new idea that justified creating a new game rather than, like most live-service projects, patching the original one. But only a single set of missions—released in August 2023—have been made available since Overwatch 2’s October 2022 release. There isn’t a release window for more at this time. The Xbox layoffs in January primarily impacted Blizzard’s development team members who worked on those missions. Furthermore, it appears that story missions are, at the very least, losing priority based on recent modifications made to Overwatch 2’s menus.
Overwatch 2 has changed significantly since its 2019 release, becoming a nearly unrecognizable version of what it was initially promised. The original 6v6 ruleset was rendered unplayable when what was intended to be a sequel to the first hero shooter evolved into a free-to-play game that totally replaced the original. Hero Mode, which included replayable levels and customizable skill trees, was completely canceled by Blizzard, along with the promised PvE modes. There are now only three 30-minute missions available, and they are located in the game mode screen’s smallest area in Overwatch 2. Some developers are now afraid that their years of work will never be realized.
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Kotaku spoke with a number of former Blizzard employees regarding the history, present, and future of Overwatch 2’s campaign missions; all of them agreed to remain anonymous out of fear of retaliation.
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The story mode of Overwatch 2 was difficult to develop.
Overwatch 2’s campaign was supposed to be released in “multiple content drops over several years,” according to a former developer, but Blizzard had been mired in pipeline problems for more than five years. Three missions were planned to be dropped “every 18 months,” the team was informed. While the campaign as a whole might not be ready to ship just yet, every mission is apparently completed to some extent at Blizzard. As per the same source, those levels vary from fully functional to still in concept.
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It appears that the company’s pursuit of an ill-defined concept known as “Blizzard Quality,” which is a benchmark to which it aspires, delayed work on the campaign missions. As per an insider, this turned into a convenient excuse for not making decisions that would have advanced the plot of story missions.
“[Blizzard Quality] is essentially an excuse to fuck around for eternity and never stop doing the same work over and over again,” the insider claimed. It’s always the game directors or leadership who determine they need to put in more time. An executive may ask, “Well, but is it Blizzard quality?”. To be honest, the game would have shipped years ago if they could have just made any kind of decision. “.
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Another source claimed that while the team’s reliance on “Blizzard Quality” might have led to repeated revisions of the initial idea, it wasn’t the only problem they ran into when attempting to complete the story missions for Overwatch 2.
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The PvP gameplay in Overwatch has proven to be extremely challenging to modify for PvE. The source texted Kotaku, “Mostly because of how differentiated and PvP-oriented the hero kits are.”.
Within the story missions, sources said, sentiment was “increasingly pessimistic” but “never outright negative.”. As worries about how things were going, according to one source, the team’s leadership—director Aaron Keller and executive director Jared Neuss, among others—would attempt to rally the group and, in certain situations, sidestep questions completely.
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“Every discipline on the team—designers, programmers, artists, QA, and more—was continuously offering ideas and suggestions for how to get better or just trying to do our best. However, they told Kotaku, “It was all either shot down by a few gatekeepers or just ‘there was no point, there was no time.'”. “In almost every team town hall, there were concerns expressed about what to do in the event that the project fails or performs poorly. It was answered with either “don’t worry about it” or “what are we going to do about disappointed players?”. Everything will be alright. We are really confident in it. Have faith in us. “.”.
Years ago, the game would have been released if they could have made any kind of decision. “.
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The competitive aspect of Overwatch 2 was allegedly always given precedence over the game’s story missions, despite the fact that the game was marketed to fans as a fresh start with new ideas and content. This corresponds with Blizzard’s publicly expressed statements, such as Keller’s May 2023 declaration that the team was abandoning its intended PvE modes in favor of the live game. It has been reported that the decision to discontinue Hero Mode was made as late as December 2022, which is two months after the game’s early access launch and six months before the company made the official announcement.
The source stated that “PvP was understood to be the core of the game’s success.”. But PvE remained a big deal to everyone, including team leadership. “.
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A source claims that there was debate within Blizzard about the necessity for the Overwatch 2 team to double in size in order to provide PvP and PvE with the resources they felt were required, but overall, the idea was voiced.
“They would basically need two 400-person teams, one for PvP and one for PvE, to have the necessary personnel,” the source claimed on a regular basis. “I doubt that to be true. Too many cooks existed already. “.
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Will Overwatch 2’s campaign face further difficulties in light of the Xbox layoffs?
According to one source, Activision Blizzard wanted the first batch of story missions to do “serious numbers” in order to justify finishing the campaign, so has development on the story missions been put on hold? Another claimed that those missions “did not do well at all,” in terms of player satisfaction or the bottom line.
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Many members of the Overwatch 2 team, including developers that worked in story, PvE, and events, were impacted by the Xbox layoffs in January. This doesn’t prove that the missions will not go forward, but it also doesn’t give anyone reason to believe that they will.
The person who was working on it was fired, so if they were going to produce more of that stuff, they just let go of everyone. The majority of those let go from the Overwatch team were employed on that pillar, so perhaps there was another way. “.
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All of the Overwatch 2 team members that Kotaku spoke with had one thing in common: they wanted story missions and player-versus-player gameplay to coexist with the competitive game, despite development challenges. They don’t seem to have shared the same sentiments, though, from those in positions of authority.
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Even from a business standpoint, it appears that neither Activision nor Microsoft are very confident in Player versus Environment. “.
In an attempt to obtain a response in time for publication, Kotaku contacted Blizzard but received no response.
