Summary
PvE content withinOverwatch 2has had a turbulent history to say the least. Originally used to justify the existence of a sequel, a full PvE campaign was promised in addition tohundreds of replayable hero missionsand deep skill trees for each character. Unfortunately, this would not come to pass, with the hero missions and skill trees officially canceled in 2023. As for the campaign, the decision was made to release the story missions in batches, with the first set releasing in Season 6. However, since then, fans have been waiting patiently for updates on the story mode.
The last update Blizzard shared aboutOverwatch 2’s story missions was that none would be coming in Season 7 or Season 8, as the company was planning to take feedback about the first mission set, Invasion, into consideration. With complaints about the missions’ pricing, a lack of replayability, and repetitiveness, there are some clear areas to work on, making this approach understandable. However, with the end of Season 8 less than a month away at the time of writing, fans could desperately use some kind of confirmation that more story content is not far off.
WhileTrials of Sanctuarywas a fun PvE LTM during the Halloween season, and the Hero Mastery Gauntlet mode could be highly replayable, story missions are especially exciting because of their cinematics and character interactions.
Where is Overwatch 2’s Second Set of PvE Missions?
The Lack of Info on The Future of Overwatch 2 PvE is Worrying
While game director Aaron Keller and Executive Producer Jared Neuss have done a terrific job of keepingtheOverwatch 2communityupdated on PvP changes as of late, ensuring that the overall state of the game is healthier than it has been in quite some time, essentially nothing has been said about PvE since Season 6. With several months having passed and the calendar being flipped to usher in a new year, lore lovers are desperate for some kind of indication that the next batch of PvE levels is still on track. After all, the more time that passes, the less likely fans are to stay invested in the story Blizzard is trying to tell.
The entire goal ofOverwatch 2’s PvE modewas to move the story forward at a faster pace after the original game essentially kept things stagnant for years. While the full story mode that was originally planned would have accomplished this, as players could have experienced a lengthy story in one sitting, releasing a batch of missions every six months has essentially takenOverwatch 2right back to square one. Once again, the story is moving at a snail’s pace, and with so much time passing between mission drops, casual players have likely forgotten what happened during Invasion. While the wait between the second and third batches of missions will hopefully be shorter, assuming that Blizzard rectifies the issues fans had with Invasion, the gap between the first and second mission sets has killed the momentum of the hero shooter’s PvE content.
Overwatch 2 Season 9 Has to Provide Some Kind of Update on PvE
Whether it is via a big or small info dump from Blizzard,Overwatch 2’s next seasonshould let PvE fans know what is next for the story missions. Ideally, a larger roadmap that tells players when they can expect the next few batches of missions (and how many more batches there will even be) would be exciting. However, if Blizzard is still unsure about when it will be able to continue the story that it started with Invasion, then just giving players a loose release window for the next batch of missions would still be helpful. Given how disappointing 2023’s PvE update was, any more bad news would be truly heartbreaking, though it is hard for players not to worry about the future of story missions when so little has been said about them lately.
Overwatch 2
WHERE TO PLAY
Overwatch 2 is an always-on and ever-evolving free-to-play, team-based action game set in an optimistic future, where every match is the ultimate 5v5 battlefield brawl. Power up your railgun and disrupt the battlefield as Sojourn, or yield your axe and command attention as Junker Queen. Battle to take control of a robot and move it toward the enemy base in the new Push Mode. Bring the fight to new destinations across the globe in iconic locations like New York, Rome, Monte Carlo and Rio. Daily challenges and frequent updates mean there is always something new to play.
