Will players tolerate Overwatch 2’s broken promises? | Opinion
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Last year, Blizzard attempted one of the most interesting and risky experiments we've ever seen a game do to its business model.
The studio’s online squad-based shooter, Overwatch, was generally very well-liked, with a devoted core fanbase – but it had launched as a $60 game and consequently had both a relatively high bar to entry compared to competing games like EA’s Apex Legends, and some hard limits on the types of monetisation strategies it could employ.
Blizzard’s attempt to cut this gordian knot was to soft-relaunch the game as Overwatch 2 – declaring that the original game had run its course, and bringing out a free-to-play sequel with a battle pass and skin store monetisation system.
Up front, the move felt a bit cynical – the actual differences between Overwatch and Overwatch 2 at launch were more in line with a patch than a sequel – but much was promised down the line, with the game’s shift to an F2P model intended to open it up to a much wider addressable audience and allow for development of entirely new content types, including an expansive PvE element that would draw upon Blizzard’s depth of experience in this field, featuring story missions, character skill trees and upgrade paths, and large-scale raids.
The response to this unusual "sequel for business purposes" approach has been mixed, to put it charitably. On one hand, it has definitely achieved its aim of opening the door to new players – Blizzard’s diagnosis that the up-front payment model was limiting the audience and holding back the game from competing effectively with rival titles was entirely correct.
On the other hand, the team’s lack of experience with F2P and
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