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Overwatch 2

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Overwatch 2
Developer(s)Blizzard Entertainment
Publisher(s)Blizzard Entertainment
Director(s)Aaron Keller
Designer(s)Michael Heiberg, Trey Spisak
Composer(s)Adam Burgess
SeriesOverwatch
Platform(s)
ReleaseAugust 10, 2023
Genre(s)First-person shooter
Mode(s)Multiplayer

Overwatch 2 is a 2023 first-person shooter video game produced by Blizzard Entertainment. As a sequel and replacement to the 2016 hero shooter Overwatch, the game included new gamemodes and a reduction in team size from six to five. The game is free-to-play on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S and features full cross-platform play. Overwatch 2 was announced in 2019 and was playable in early access from October 2022 until officially releasing in August 2023. The game was planned to feature more story-based cooperative modes, but these were scrapped in 2023 to focus on its player-versus-player (PvP) elements.

Gameplay

Further information: Gameplay of Overwatch

Overwatch 2 is a hero shooter, where players are split into two teams and select a "hero" from a roster of 42 characters. Characters are organized into a "damage" class, responsible for offensive efforts; a "support" class, responsible for healing and buffing; and a "tank" class, responsible for creating space for their team. Each character has a unique set of skills, made up of active, passive, and ultimate abilities. Overwatch 2, like its predecessor, primarily centers on player versus player (PvP) combat across several different modes and maps, and includes both casual and ranked competitive matches.

The original Overwatch was designed for six-on-six team combat, with two of each class on a team. In Overwatch 2, the number of tank slots was reduced by one, bringing the total number of players per team to five. According to game director Aaron Keller, developers hoped that losing a tank would speed up gameplay as they believed that the original six players scheme rendered gameplay slow. It is also intended to ease the amount of things players and spectators need to watch out for. New maps were designed to include more cover options to compensate for reduced tank-based protection.[1] Additionally, damage class heroes now have an increased movement speed, support heroes slowly regenerate, and tank heroes were redesigned so they could take on a more offensive role. Heroes were visually refurbished as to reflect the passage of time since the events of the first game.[2] Overwatch 2 includes a ping system to direct the attention of teammates to specific points on the map.[3]

The game also introduces a new PvP mode named "Push", similar to tug of war, in which teams vie for control of a robot that pushes a team's payload to the opponent's side of the map. Along with being incorporated into Unranked and Competitive play, Push has become part of the standard map rotation of the Overwatch League, replacing the Assault mode.[4] Assault maps (colloquially referred to as "2CP", meaning "two control points"), such as Paris and Horizon Lunar Colony, are not available in the core Overwatch 2 game modes as these have been deemed unbalanced in response to community feedback. However, they are available in the form of custom games and sometimes appear in the non-competitive arcade modes, which are switched out daily.[5]

Overwatch 2 has also introduced a new PvP mode called Clash, which is similar to its King of the Hill mode. Clash begins with a contest to capture five points on the map. Clash maps contain 5 points (A, B, C, D, E) uniformly distributed across the length of the map. Depending on who wins, the point closest to the losing team’s side will unlock after 10 seconds for either team to capture and continue the process. The last capture points A and E can be captured for a total of three points or up to the remaining number of points a team needs to win. However, earning all 3 points is intended to be difficult as the opposing team’s spawn room is close to the last capture points so enemies can come back to the fight quickly.

Overwatch 2 was released as free-to-play as opposed to the premium monetization model of its predecessor. It also discontinued loot boxes in favor of a battle pass system which is offered on a seasonal basis and corresponds with the introduction of new maps and heroes. The game also includes an in-game store where players can purchase cosmetics directly.[6][7] Blizzard stated that new heroes will be introduced as rewards on the free tier of the battle pass, and players who fail to make the associated tier will have other routes to obtain the hero for free in later seasons.[8] In addition to battle pass cosmetics, players can purchase seasonal cosmetics through the in-game store. Further, special events lasting two to three weeks have been offered, offering new cosmetics for completing various challenges as well as new cosmetics available for purchase. With Overwatch 2, Blizzard has also created collaborations with other franchises, including Blizzard's own Diablo IV, as well as content from third parties such as the anime series One-Punch Man and Cowboy Bebop and the Korean idol group Le Sserafim.

A Blizzard Battle.net account is required to play Overwatch 2, regardless of platform. Overwatch 2 features cross-progression, with in-game cosmetic items and progress being shared across PC and console versions.[9] Unlocked cosmetic items, in-game currency, and player statistics from any Overwatch profile linked to such an account are merged, and are available on all platforms. Competitive skill ratings are separate, with console and PC ranks remaining independent of each other.[10]

Post-release updates

See also: Overwatch seasonal events

Starting in Season 6, in August 2023, three story-based PvE missions were added to the game, with more planned in the future. These advance the lore and narrative of Overwatch. These missions are generally designed to complete multiple objectives, and are similar to previous short-term event missions offered previously from the first Overwatch. These missions are only available as free-to-play game modes during specific seasons, but the player can purchase permanent access to these missions separately or as part of a battle pass bundle.[11][12] Further, in September 2023, special Hero Mastery missions were introduced for three heroes, with more planned in the future. These missions are aimed to help the player learn and improve their skills with the given character.[13]

With Season 9, starting in February 2024, a major overhaul of combat and the competitive system was introduced. All heroes gained a boost in health and passive healing, while buffs were applied to all characters with guns or similar weapons. This was intended to improve survivability, remove the likelihood of a character being killed by a simple quick burst of fire as well as to prevent them from being quickly healed. In contrast to the approach since Overwatch 2's launch, which progressed a player's rank after winning 5 games or losing 15, the new system resembled the original Overwatch approach where the player's competitive ranking is adjusted after each game, with additional information as to what aspects of the match contributed to the ranking change. With these changes, Blizzard announced that all players would have their competitive ranking reset and would need to perform ten matches to gain their starting competitive rank.[14]

Within Season 10, which was released in April 2024, new heroes are no longer tied to the battle passes, and instead free to all players, a retroactive change that includes the previous heroes released since Overwatch 2's release. Players still need to have completed the tutorial missions before gaining access to these heroes. [15]

Development

Overwatch 2 was announced at BlizzCon on November 1, 2019, with plans that the game would maintain a "shared multiplayer environment" between it and the original Overwatch, so that players in either game could compete in the existing player versus player (PvP) game modes, retaining all unlocked cosmetics and other features.[16] Jeff Kaplan, director for Overwatch, explained that this was a major decision and that he had to justify this "player-first standpoint" to Blizzard executives, given the current industry trend to draw in new sales.[17] All new heroes, maps, and PvP modes were to be added to both games to maintain this shared environment.[18]

While Activision Blizzard had anticipated Overwatch 2 would be ready by 2020 or 2021, the game's release kept switching. One reason was driven by management to convert the game into a free-to-play title, aligning with most other multiplayer games on the market, leaving the question of monetization open. Kaplan's original design for Overwatch, which allowed for players to switch to any other hero to counter opposing team composition, made it difficult to monetize the release of new heroes, drove Blizzard to consider the battle pass approach, which was meant to balance player engagement with the game through its lifetime, and revenue from selling cosmetics. A second reason for the delay was difficulty in implementing Kaplan's ideas for PvE, as the game was not designed to handle large numbers of enemy forces from both an engine and gameplay design aspect.[19] Around 2021, Activision management put pressure on Blizzard to finish Overwatch 2, suggesting that Blizzard add more staff to Team 4, the Blizzard division created for Overwatch, as to match the team size typical for other popular free-to-play shooters. Blizzard resisted this, fearing the added time and costs to bring on new staff would take too much from the ongoing development, and wanted to avoid Activision's desire to release Overwatch in annual installments.[19]

Due to the constant attention from Activision, the Overwatch team could not give Overwatch 2 full attention, and from 2021, several key staff members involved in its development, including Kaplan, left Blizzard.[19] Aaron Keller took over the role for lead developer on Overwatch 2, with pressure from Activision to release it as soon as possible. To make this happen and avoid a situation similar to the Titan cancellation, Blizzard opted to decouple the PvE and PvP elements, to release the improved PvP elements by 2022 and to eventually release the PvE elements later.[20]

By mid-2022, Overwatch 2's conversion to a free-to-play title, and its planned release date of October 4, 2022, were announced. Blizzard affirmed that Overwatch 2 live services would replace those of the original game; the original Overwatch servers would be shut down on October 2, 2022.[21] Players retained their existing cosmetics and in-game currency, with remaining loot boxes opened automatically upon the release of Overwatch 2.[22] At least three new heroes were announced to be added to the roster, including Sojourn, a Canadian Overwatch officer, Junker Queen, the ruler of Junkertown, and Kiriko, the protector of Kanezaka.[23][24]

Overwatch 2 runs on an upgraded version of the original game's engine which allows for larger map sizes to better support the new story-based player versus environment (PvE) elements.[16] Additionally, all of the existing heroes received visual redesigns for Overwatch 2, although Blizzard did not expect every hero to have their redesigns finished when the game launched. Twelve of the existing 31 redesigns were completed at the time of Overwatch 2's reveal.[23]

Overwatch 2 was released for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S in early access on October 4, 2022.[24] Kaplan stated when the game was announced that they were more concerned about quality of the product than timeliness of the release.[25][26] Investor documents released in November 2021 reported that the initial 2022 release window was delayed to at least 2023, intended for "giving the teams some extra time to complete production and continue growing their creative resources to support the titles after launch".[27] Kaplan anticipated that Overwatch and Overwatch 2 will ultimately merge into a single product to avoid having any engine differences affecting player experience.[28] Technical director John Lafleur has stated they are also interested in supporting, at minimum, cross-platform progression and are looking at the possibility of cross-platform play.[29] In the interim from its announcement prior to release, Kaplan left Blizzard in April 2021, with Aaron Keller taking over the lead development role,[30] while the lead developer for new heroes, Geoff Goodman, left sometime in mid-2022.[31]

In March 2022, Blizzard stated that they had put too much focus on Overwatch 2 over the past few years to the detriment of support for the original game, and so changed plans to release Overwatch 2 in parts, with the PvP portion to be released in beta form starting in April 2022 and the PvE part to come at a later time. This would allow them to also continue to support Overwatch alongside Overwatch 2's development.[32][33] Later, Blizzard announced that the first wave of Overwatch 2 invitation-only betas would begin on April 26, 2022, and end on May 17. Access to the closed beta could be earned either by signing up for a chance to participate or by watching select Twitch streamers for a limited time on April 27.[34][35]

The game without its PvE mode was released as early access on October 4, 2022, for Windows, PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One and Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch.[36] That day, in addition to a large number of players, the game's servers were hit with a distributed denial of service (DDOS) attack that made it difficult for many to access the game.[37] Additionally, as part of Blizzard's efforts to reduce smurfing, the use of new accounts by experienced players as to try to game the system, the company required all players to confirm their identity through a SMS message on their cell phone linked to their account. For many with prepaid cellular plans, particularly in the United States, they cannot use SMS on their plans, and effectively locked them out of Overwatch 2, though Blizzard stated they were working to resolve that issue.[38] By October 7, Blizzard removed the need to verify one's identity for those that had played Overwatch since at least June 2021.[39] As a means to make up this lost time to players, Blizzard planned to offer double experience point weekends and free cosmetic items to all players.[40]

The game was to feature PvE game modes to be released later in the game's lifecycle, differentiating it from its predecessor. Similar to the special seasonal events, they would have consist of four-player cooperative missions against non-playable characters and were to be available persistent as opposed to a seasonal basis. In this mode, players would garner experience points for their hero and unlock new passive abilities called "talents", allowing them to influence how the hero plays.[2][16] However, in May 2023, the developers announced that these extensive plans for PvE had been scrapped, fearing how they would impact the PvP elements. Instead the developers plan to offer story-based events as a replacement for the scrapped PvE.[41] According to Keller, the concept behind the PvE elements were trying to bring forward gameplay from the cancelled Titan which Overwatch was originally based on. However, Keller stated that as they started shifted development to include the PvE elements, the overall project became unfocused, and the lead developers believed that they could not deliver a polished experience and opted to discontinue work in this direction.[42] Blizzard announced players will be required to pay $15 for these new story missions. The purchase will include in-game currency and cosmetic items.[43] Jason Schreier of Bloomberg News reported in March 2024 that from his sources, Blizzard did not believe the PvE content sold well enough to continue, with the entire PvE having been eliminated and no further plans to continue the PvE missions going forward.[44]

In March 2024, game director Aaron Keller announced changes to the game's premium battle pass that would make new characters free for all players.[45] Three months later, Keller discusse that they were reconsidering the change away from 6 on 6 matches by running 6 vs 6 special events to evaluate player response.[46] two such tests are planned for Season 14 (around December 2024), one that forced two of each class, and a second that requires a minimum of one class hero and a maximum of 3.[47]

Reception

Overwatch 2 received "generally favorable" reviews from critics upon release according to review aggregator Metacritic.[58]

Tyler Colp of PC Gamer was critical of Blizzard's handling of the sequel, writing that the game "intentionally or not, is trying to bury its predecessor alive." Colp added, "the original Overwatch is still in there, bruised and broken, but the weight of Blizzard's commercial and competitive expectations keeps piling up."[59]

On the game's 5v5 gameplay dynamic, as opposed to its predecessor's 6v6 dynamic, IGN's Simon Cardy wrote: "it fully drags Overwatch 2 out of the stagnant meta swamp its predecessor found itself in over the past couple of years, but also denies itself some of the lustre of its satisfying team play." Cardy also wrote "if the pertinent question to ask about Overwatch 2 is simply if it's a fun game, then the answer right now is yes. It's still a fundamentally great hero shooter, just one that is perhaps not currently operating at the towering height of its powers."[49]

Jessica Howard of GameSpot wrote, "Overwatch 2 takes the franchise from a genre-defining shooter to a trend-chasing one. As such, it has begun to feel less like a unique sci-fi, superhero comic book in video game form, and more like, well, a lot of other games."[60] Chris Carter of Destructoid wrote that "Overwatch 2 doesn't have the same cachet that Overwatch 1 did, but I can still see myself jumping in for a few matches after a long evening. The charm is still there, even if the delivery system has been muddled, and the game is no longer a premium product with easy-access characters that you can readily jump in and out of. Perhaps the PVE update can change that, but it has some work to do."[61] The team, acknowledging player feedback from the past eight seasons, revealed plans for significant updates in a candid blog to enhance competitive play, allowing players to better develop their skills and track progress through the ranks.[62]

The game's removal of loot boxes in favor of a battle pass system received backlash. Players directed criticism toward Blizzard's decision to lock the character Kiriko as a free reward on the first season's battle pass.[63][64][65] Following Kiriko's reveal trailer, CJ Wheeler of Rock Paper Shotgun wrote: "One look at PlayOverwatch's mentions on Twitter is, well, eye-opening. It reveals so much criticism of the battle passes, from cries of pay to win to complaints about the grind before the game's even dropped. There are quite a few accusations that Blizzard are money-hungry too."[65] Further criticism was levied at both the pricing of cosmetic items found with the in-game shop, as well as the time it would take to unlock cosmetics solely through grinding for those players who opt against using real money within the shop.[66][67][68][69] Many players and some game journalists highlighted that most other games include enough in-game currency in the battle pass to get the next one free.[70][71][72]

Upon release of Overwatch 2 on Steam, the game received a large number of negative reviews and became the worst-rated Steam game of all time within a 48-hour time frame, leading many outlets to characterize the response as review bombing.[73][74][75][76] User reviews were generally critical of Blizzard's handling of Overwatch 2 including the removal of the planned PvE content, which director Aaron Keller acknowledged.[77] Players also expressed frustration at issues related to the company's recent history, including allegations of sexual harassment at Activision Blizzard.[78][79][80] Nearly two-thirds of these reviews were written in Simplified Chinese, which - according to Niko Partners - stems from Blizzard's dissolution of its agreement with NetEase in China earlier in 2023, leaving Chinese players unable to play on local servers.[81][82]

Over 35 million users played Overwatch 2 in its first month of release in early access, compared to Overwatch which had only 15 million players three months after release.[83] By July 2024, both Overwatch and Overwatch 2 had over 100 million players.[84] It was nominated for the British Academy Games Award for Multiplayer at the 19th British Academy Games Awards.[85]

References

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