It is bizarre to me that the once beloved and seemingly untouchable Overwatch could suffer such a significant decline in popularity, to the point that it feels as if all other hero shooters have superseded it. Overwatch was the gold standard for the sub-genre, a triumph in character, game, and map design, and an experience that many, myself included, felt would never tarnish, never waver in its excellence, and never get old. Yet, Blizzard’s seeming inability to make good decisions has led to an abundance of fan backlash, leaving us in a stark and surreal position.
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Overwatch 2 should have been a remarkable sequel to its genre-defining predecessor, yet it faltered at almost every step. Its failings at launch and continued failings since then have resulted in Blizzard needing to rebrand the entire game in order to salvage what little goodwill remains among its scattered community of hardcore fans. With so many better hero shooters available, it feels as if this rebrand is too little too late. However, while what Blizzard has planned could fail to drum up the support it needs to save Overwatch 2, one addition could bring not just former fans back, but a whole swathe of newcomers too.
Overwatch 2’s Rebrand May Not Be Enough
Overwatch 2’s big rebrand doesn’t make much sense to me. Admittedly, I’ve not hated the ill-fated sequel quite as much as everyone else, and I even believe Overwatch 2’s best qualities still make it an enjoyable way to kill a few hours with friends. Still, there’s a lot that Blizzard is doing in an attempt to shift the Mostly Negative Steam reviews in a more positive direction that boggles the mind. The choice to rename Overwatch 2 to simply Overwatch feels both immediately confusing and disrespectful to those who fought against the ridiculous removal of the original Overwatch in 2022.
The addition of new heroes is always great, and Overwatch 2’s five new heroes certainly look fun to play around with. Yet, as an onboarding experience, Overwatch 2’s current roster already feels incredibly overwhelming to a newcomer, and five more won’t fix that. In fact, it risks upsetting the already fragile balancing act Blizzard is desperate to maintain, causing certain heroes to feel more overpowered or, indeed, underpowered than ever before. Blizzard has promised to address balancing more to prevent this from happening, but dropping five heroes at once will surely still ruffle a few feathers.
There are positives to this rebrand, such as the greater focus on narrative to actually make you care about who you’re playing as, a prior strength of Overwatch that has been sadly lost over time. Crucially, the many events planned and structural changes affecting maps as each Season progresses are potentially interesting inclusions (it helps that these concepts are ripped more or less out of the endlessly successful Fortnite playbook). Yet, I fail to see how much of this will bring back a player base fatigued with the gameplay loop or those disillusioned by the negative reviews and poor word of mouth.
This is less of a shake-up and simply Blizzard dumping more of the same type of content onto an already stuffed experience. It is clearly hoping that the greater focus on narrative will force players to keep playing so they don’t miss a key story moment, much like Destiny 2 and Fortnite. There are no new modes planned, no great big consequential changes to the overall experience. It is very much still going to be Overwatch 2, just with more heroes, more story content happening in the background, and a reworking of the Season structure. Oh, and the 2 is now gone. What Overwatch 2 really needs for this rebrand to have any real effect is actual new content, or, more accurately, the return of a cancelled mode.
Overwatch 2 Needs Its Cancelled PvE Mode
One of the key selling points when attempting to convince the dedicated fans of Overwatch to jump over to its sequel was that a full-blown PvE mode was in the works, featuring a connected story, cutscenes, customizable hero abilities, skill trees, and more. Unfortunately, Blizzard cancelled Overwatch 2’s planned PvE mode and later released three Story Missions that felt like leftover content from said mode bundled together for a rather pricey $15.
It was a significant blow to both the game and Blizzard Entertainment’s reputation, as not only was it one of the few things that would have made Overwatch 2 an improvement over its predecessor, but it was also something the fanbase had been clamouring for after getting a taste of what story-focused missions could look like when playing through Overwatch’s limited PvE events. There are also practically no hero shooters that come bundled with a narrative, aside from one of the best hero shooters no one remembers, Battleborn. Alas, that game was pulled completely, rendering even its single-player campaign unplayable.
A PvE campaign featuring all of the wonderful ideas Blizzard had sold us all on would not only be a great inclusion to the alleged “forever game” that the developer wants Overwatch 2 to be, but also a phenomenal strategy to get newcomers and old fans interested in the hero shooter. Newcomers who are perhaps reticent to jump into the overwhelming PvP modes can get to know each hero through the more limited rosters available in PvE missions, and connect with the world and characters on an emotional level. That then incentivises them to give the PvP content a go, much like how Space Marine 2 handled its campaign and co-op content.
Former fans will be interested in seeing their favorite heroes in action in a detailed campaign, the likes of which the available three Story Missions tease, and would be more inclined to return for that and then reintergrate themselves back into the PvP modes after rekindling their love for Overwatch 2’s undeniably good gunplay. It feels like a win-win and a great way for Blizzard to earn a lot of the goodwill it lost when it cancelled the mode in the first place. Unfortunately, it doesn’t feel like Blizzard has any interest in adding more PvE content, as it hasn’t announced any additional Story Missions since the first three launched back in 2023.
What is so baffling is that it is clear Blizzard has a passion for this world and its characters, as it wants the story to be at the front and centre of the rebrand. Yet, it seems incapable of producing a PvE co-op campaign that would truly allow players to engage with the story and characters on a deeper level. Without a PvE mode, it is, of course, possible that Overwatch 2 (or, I suppose, just Overwatch now) will flourish and become incredibly popular once more. However, I suspect there’s little else that will actually endear people to this once-megalithic experience, which now flounders in the face of competition and a lack of innovation.
Do you think a PvE mode would save Overwatch 2? Leave a comment below or join the conversation below in the ComicBook Forum!
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