Overwatch 2's Future PVE Plans Reportedly Cancelled

Fresh off news that Blizzard's Overwatch 2 is shifting some of its key plans for the game entirely, news has come that a major branch of their future plans has been shelved. In a new report from Bloomberg, the outlet revealed that Overwatch 2's development team has been told that Blizzard no longer has plans "to finish any of the remaining planned PvE content" and will instead focus solely on the long-standing PVP and competitive scene in Overwatch 2. Fans of Overwatch 2 have suspected that this news might be inevitable after mass lay-offs at Activision Blizzard earlier this year resulted in the majority of the team developing the PvE content being let go from the company.

A spokesperson for Blizzard responded to the news of the PVE cancellation with a statement saying the Overwatch 2 team is  "focusing on the foundational team-based experience, building the game alongside our players, and more quickly addressing their feedback....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."

Back in August of 2023, Overwatch 2 debuted its sixth season which carried the title "Invasion," and in addition to a premium battle pass of cosmetics prompted users to further purchase the first three PVE story missions. Only playable with three others, these missions were criticized for lack of replayability and being stuck behind an additional paywall beyond the semi-regular battle passes that the game releases. Fans of Overwatch 2 were previously unsettled by the abrupt cancellation of Overwatch 2's "Hero Missions," which was seemingly done to further focus on the story missions. Now those appear to have met their permanent end as well. 

This news of Overwatch 2 cancelling plans for future PVE story missions comes days after a major report from Kotaku that was titled "Overwatch 2 Devs Fear Story Missions Have Been Canceled." That outlet reported on Monday that former developers from Blizzard revealed that the plans had been for additional Overwatch 2 PVE missions to be released "every 18 months" with drops planned for years into the future. According to the outlet's source, some future Overwatch 2 PVE missions were already completed enough to be "fully playable" while others were still in the concept phase. Another source alleged that the PVE missions "did not do well at all" for Overwatch 2 both in terms of sales and in player interest.

News of this major change to Overwatch 2's future comes just days after the team released an official developer update about the future of the title. The biggest news from that official announcement was that new heroes that will be introduced into the game will no longer be locked behind the premium battle pass and will instead be free to all players. This will begin with the game's newest hero, Venture, a DPS hero releasing in Overwatch 2 season 10. 

"Heroes are one of the most exciting additions to the game, and we want all of our players to have immediate access to them when they launch," Overwatch 2 game director Aaron Keller said in the pre-recorded video. "Which is why I am thrilled to share that Venture and all future heroes will be free for all players when they launch. Starting with Venture, heroes will no longer be unlocked through the battle pass. This includes all previous Overwatch 2 heroes."

Overwatch 2 Season 10 does not yet have a release date but is expected to start some time in mid-April.