OVERWATCH 2 fans are absolutely livid after a major feature that was in development for the game was scrapped after years of development.
The game, developed by Blizzard, was released in 2022, and was supposed to be getting a major PVE, or player-versus-environment, mode in the future.
Many have criticised Overwatch 2 for its “aggressive” monetisation strategies
The PVE mode would have added permanent story segments, which players would team up to play in co-op against AI in scripted missions.
Despite the game being out for almost a year, news on the upcoming PVE mode was very light, and players were beginning to become concerned.
Blizzard held a developer livestream this week, officially revealing that the PVE mode had been scrapped for good, calling it a difficult decision.
The developer said that the mode was taking too many resources away from the development of seasonal live-service content, which is where the game makes a lot of its money.
Players have not taken the news well, with many vowing to boycott the game, avoid spending money on it, and even deleting their accounts.
Part of the reason players are so angry is because the PVE content is the whole reason for Overwatch 2 existing in its current form.
At the time of announcement, Blizzard said that transitioning from Overwatch to Overwatch 2 was necessary to include the PVE content.
A content freeze was put in place on the first Overwatch game for years while Overwatch 2 was in development, but players were sure that it would be worth it for the story content.
The game also went free-to-play in the transition, and players who had paid for the first Overwatch game got very little in compensation as they transitioned to the new game.
Blizzard says that some of the PVE content will still be used, as part of canon and non-canon seasonal events, but that it would be much smaller in scope than originally planned.
Written by Oliver Brandt on behalf of GLHF.
