Overwatch 2 PvE arrives in 2023, different from Blizzard’s original plan

Overwatch 2’s next three seasons of content will include the arrival of PvE story missions, a brand-new support hero, and a limited time event called Questwatch, Blizzard announced Tuesday. Blizzard promised story missions in 2019. Overwatch 2, but they’ll arrive in a very different form from what the developer originally promised.

Aaron Keller, the game director and Jared Neuss, executive producer of Twitch said that Season 6 would include Overwatch 2’s “first major story-based event […] with a new set of missions that will kick off a new story arc for Overwatch.” Neuss announced that that story-driven PvE content won’t include the long-term power progression and hero-specific talent trees that Blizzard originally promised, with Keller explaining that rather than doing “a big one-time PvE release,” Blizzard is planning to make co-op gameplay and experiences part of its ongoing live game roadmap. Some of those co-op experiences will be canon to Overwatch’s story, while others won’t, Keller said.

“Development on the PvE experience really hasn’t made the progress we would have hoped,” Neuss explained. “The team has created a bunch of amazing content so there’s awesome missions that are really exciting, there’s brand-new enemies that are super fun to fight, and some truly great and ridiculous hero talents. The effort to make all this into an experience of Blizzard’s quality that can be shipped to our customers is enormous and the end is nowhere in sight. […] So we’re left with another difficult choice: Do we continue to pour all of that effort into PvE, hoping that we can land it at some point in the future, or do we […]What if you focused on the game itself?

“With everything we’ve learned about what it takes to operate this game at the level you deserve, it’s clear that we can’t deliver on that original vision for PvE that was shown in 2019. We won’t be delivering that dedicated hero mode with talent trees, that long-term power progression, those things just aren’t in our plans anymore.”

Added Keller, “We want you to be able to experience it more often and with more variety than originally announced.”

Blizzard’s announcement will surely be a major blow to Overwatch fans who were enticed by the player progression and variety of hero talents that Blizzard promised at BlizzConline 2021. As of now, players who have stuck to Overwatch can expect story content, in small pieces, in the months and years ahead.

Here’s a look at Blizzard’s current roadmap for Overwatch 2:

Image: Blizzard Entertainment

The Season 5

• Questwatch – a brand new event mode for a limited period
• Mischief & Magic
• The cinematic unveiling of an unknown hero
• Summer Games 2023
• 5v5 mini competitive season
• “On fire” returns
• Create Workshop Mode

Season 6

• Story missions
• The new support hero
• Flashpoint game mode
• Hero mastery
• Firing Range
• Players progression system
• Celebrate Overwatch’s Anniversary in 2023

Season Seven and Beyond

• New tank hero
• The New Collaborative Event (limited-time mode).
• New control map
• Winter event
• Competitive Mystery Heroes Returns
• Roadhog and Sombra Reworks
• Lore codex

Blizzard first announced Overwatch 2’s PvE component at BlizzCon 2019, when it unveiled the semi-sequel to the original Overwatch. Before Overwatch 2’s launch, however, Blizzard “decoupled” the story-driven PvE portion of the game from its competitive multiplayer modes. Since Overwatch 2’s launch in October 2022, Blizzard has released a handful of new PvE modes including a Halloween-themed event, Halloween Terror 2022, and the new Starwatch mode, which blends PvP and PvE elements.