I remember back in 2016 when Overwatch first launched, it may not be that long ago, but I loved the game. The characters felt unique, the maps and game modes were polished, the game had its own unique charm to it.
At this point, it was still called the “TF2 killer”, which it obviously wasn’t. But when I heard that there was a sequel to the game I was confused, yet hyped, but when I launched Overwatch 1 again, I realized why the game was dying and why a sequel had to be made.
Basically, Blizzard wanted to make a sequel before the game was ‘dead’ so they decided to kind of let the game fizzle out by not updating it. This happened over three years until the second game was announced. Although from all the trailers and teasers the game had it really didn’t look that different. And when the beta came out it showed the truth, Overwatch 2 was just an update. Yeah, sure, the U.I looked different, there were two new characters, and half the roster was revamped, but that was about it. Now the game is going to have P.V.E mode implemented, but it was delayed which sucks considering how it was going to be the whole point of making a sequel. After the launch of Overwatch 2, I am not hopeful for its future. Now before I start, I need to say that this won’t just be the average article on this game saying it’s bad because there’s only two new characters or that the U.I isn’t any better than the old. Instead, I am going to be talking about how Overwatch 2 is handicapping its own future.
The most obvious example of this is the barely legal microtransactions this game shoves down the player’s face, and yes, I truly meant barely legal because they use some tactics that Bethesda almost got sued for using. Anyways the game uses a bunch of monetization tactics that other free-to-play FPS games use, and yes Overwatch 2 is free-to-play. Overwatch 2 has the classic battle pass. Except that they lock one of the new characters in the battle pass, meaning that you either must pay to get her instantly or grind for hours to get to tier 55.
Another problem with this system is that if you miss a season or don’t play enough you will be at a huge disadvantage. Yet another thing they’ve taken is the item shop, now in the original Overwatch the way you got skins was kind of controversial. In the way that you could either get loot boxes from playing or pay for them. Although this system had its problems it still worked well because it rewarded you for leveling up or playing a different mode because they give you a loot box. And if you opened a loot box you could get a skin or the in-game currency to buy a skin with. Both could come as common or legendary. But even if that system was a bit iffy at times it was ten times better then what we have now. Not only have they stolen the item shop from Fortnite, but they made the prices heaps more expensive. And this is the only way you can get the most legendary skins now, but they will probably change this eventually considering I think that most players will stop buying from the item shop when they realize that most of the skins aren’t worth how much Blizzard sets it as. Talking about prices brings me onto the borderline illegal microtransactions this game has. Now Fallout 76 made a lot of mistakes but the one to get them sued is when they started selling items as ‘discounted’ when that’s the price they were always meant to be, which sounds dumb, but if someone doesn’t know that it’s a fake sale it seems like a really good deal which entices them to buy it even more. And yes, as you can guess Blizzard, for some reason, thought that this is a good idea, so they decided to do it too. Now I wouldn’t be surprised if they fix this soon considering all the public backlash they have been getting and that they probably don’t want to be sued two times in one year.
But that is not the only way that they are handicapping themselves, another way is that they haven’t released the main point of a sequel yet. Basically, the main point of Overwatch 2 is that there is both a PVP and PVE mode, but they delayed the PVE mode and have just released the PVP. The problem with this is that it kills all hype when people are already disappointed with the unfinished game you gave them. Now yes, they are not the only company to release the multiplayer separately then the main point of the game. An example of this is Halo Infinite, a game that launched its multiplayer mode before the campaign, aka the main point of Halo, but the difference between what Blizzard did and what Microsoft did is that Halo Infinites modes were only released one week apart. But Blizzard has delayed the PVE mode a whole year, meaning that the PVP mode has been released in 2022 and we will have to wait until 2023 to play the main new thing in Overwatch 2. And I think I speak for everyone in saying that waiting a whole year for both to come at once is probably the best choice, considering that you won’t lose any hype, and now that fans are impatiently waiting for the PVE mode. Blizzard will do what Blizzard does best and rush the game into an unpolished mess.
Overwatch 2 has a lot of bugs which was probably expected considering we are in 2022 and nearly every new game has that issue. Most of those bugs involve specific characters which need to be fixed asap, but Blizzard also doesn’t want people abusing the bugs in public games. So, what’s the best solution? Blizzard’s answer to that is to fully remove the character. When a character has a bug, big or small, Blizzard goes full panic mode and removes the character from everything. Whether it’s competitive or unranked you can’t select the character. But when I say that Blizzard goes into panic mode, I mean it because you can’t even see the character in the hero gallery meaning that you can’t equip or change any of your skins, weapon charms, highlight intros, etc. But where the issue mainly arises is when you realize that three characters have been removed so far. I should also mention that Kiriko, one of the new characters, was unavailable to play in competitive for the first week or two of launch.
One of the characters that was removed was Bastion, a character who was removed for a game-breaking bug. The bug basically allowed Bastion to use his alt which lets you select three spots to send a high damage missile, except that the bug allowed you to click infinitely until the time runs out. The worst part about this is how the bug was really easy to perform only needing you to click Q and right click at the same time.
The bug that disabled Torbjorn though was not as game-breaking yet was still enough to get him temporarily removed from Competitive Mode. The bug allowed Torbjorn to use his Overload ability again before it ends meaning that he gets a bit more health and a faster firing rate for a little bit longer than usual.
The last character that was removed was Mei. She was removed because her ice wall ability lets you go through some floors and some invisible barriers, which gives you overpowered spots that the enemies might not be able to see you at. This isn’t a good sign for the game though, considering how the characters that were disabled were from the original games, and what makes it even worse is that Briggete might get removed next because of a bug she has with her shield.
Overall, it’s not that I want Overwatch 2 to die. I loved the first one and have enjoyed the sequel, but it hurts to see such a good game go to waste just because Blizzard wants a quick buck. I genuinely hope that the PVE mode is enough to keep the game alive for a little bit longer considering we’ve only gotten one kind of boring Halloween event. If Blizzard really wants to keep the game alive, they should probably fix the monetization considering how it’s a huge turn off for new players.