When Overwatch 2 was unveiled at Blizzcon 2019, the most exciting feature was the addition of substantial PvE content and features. Blizzard promised players a highly replayable, extensive PvE mode that was supposed to include character progression such as hero talents.
Overwatch 2 launched in 2022 as a free-to-play game that only featured PvP. Blizzard still maintained PvE would come later, but eventually, it largely gave up on most of those plans, scrapping the project in favor of story missions akin to those seen in the first installment.
The first set of three missions (set in Rio de Janeiro, Toronto, and Gothenburg) is scheduled to be released in Season 6, which will be available next month. While access to the missions will be free during the event, to get them permanently players will have to purchase the Invasion Bundle, which is priced at $15. The bundle also includes 1,000 Overwatch Coins that could be used to get the Premium Battle Pass (worth $10), permanent access to the new hero Sojourn, and a legendary skin for the character (worth $19).
However, don't expect Overwatch 2 to get any more PvE content before 2024. Speaking in an interview with Twitch streamer Emongg, Blizzard's Executive Producer Jared Neuss explained it will be a while as the developers will want to make adjustments based on the feedback of the Invasion event.
Don't expect the next PvE round in the next season and the season after that or anything like that. It is very much like trying to find that balance between getting PvE in front of players quickly because we love story stuff, and giving ourselves enough time to make changes or add features.
To be fair, there's a bunch of stuff that we want to do next year, or that are already in development for next year, that will fill the gaps that people will have in between. We're trying to make it so that it doesn't feel like 'and then there's nothing' for a long extended period of time. It's more like 'there's this cool thing!' and 'there's this other narrative thing', 'there's this other narrative thing' - we keep telling interesting stories and moving that all forward.
Overwatch 2 is also getting an animated miniseries, where Blizzard will tell the story of the origins of the Omnic Crisis and the formation of Overwatch. The series is set to premiere on YouTube on July 6th, with two other episodes scheduled to be available in the following weeks.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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