In a new livestream about the future of Overwatch 2, developer Blizzard Entertainment has announced that it has cancelled its original plans for a co-op PvE mode with hero talent trees, long-term progression, Hero Missions, and other features. Instead, the studio plans to incorporate pieces of co-op content into its live service offerings over time.
“We can’t deliver on that original vision for PvE that was shown in 2019,” said Overwatch 2 Executive Producer Jared Neuss during the stream. “So what that means is that we won’t be delivering that dedicated hero mode with talent trees, that long-term progression…those things just aren’t in our plans anymore.”
“We know that this is going to be disappointing for many people,” Neuss continued. “To be perfectly honest, it’s been really difficult for many of us … a lot of folks on the team have poured their heart and soul into that stuff.”
The news comes as a complete shock to many fans, as the dedicated Overwatch 2 PvE campaign was one of the main selling points of the shift from the first Overwatch to its sequel. Notably, co-op content is still on the way, though it will look different than what the developers had planned originally.
“Going forward though, rather than doing a big one-time PvE release and rather than pouring all of our efforts into these singular PvE releases, we’re planning to make co-op experiences and co-op gameplay just part of our live roadmap,” said Game Director Aaron Keller. “We want you to be able to experience it more often, and with more variety than we had originally announced.”
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