[Update]: Overwatch 2's July 11th update has added Summer Games 2023, a new Team Queue mode, and a variety of buffs

As a part of a recent announcement, the Overwatch 2 team revealed that they will be drastically downscaling the scope and amount of the long-awaited PvE missions. Furthermore, the unique and powerful talents first shown during the reveal trailer many years back have been cut entirely, and with them a fair bit of potential replay value as well.

Instead, a couple of new Story Missions will be introduced as seasonal content every once in a while, starting with the upcoming Season 6. The first batch of mission will have us face off against Null Sector yet again, this time in an effort to prevent them from seemingly trying to brainwash innocent Omnics. While the exact details are still few and far between, the gameplay shown so far makes them appear like slightly more spruced up Archives-style missions. Nothing too groundbreaking, but still a fun little diversion from the endless competitive PvP.

Unfortunately, this story doesn't end there as after seeing the community opinion rapidly turn against them, Blizzard has decided to grab a shovel and start digging their hole deeper. In other words, they have now announced that the first three Story Missions will be locked behind a $15 bundle that also includes 1,000 Overwatch Coins and a Legendary Sojourn skin. While technically a good deal for anyone that was looking to purchase all of that, it's still a $15 paywall for anyone that was still excited about PvE after all these years.

Needless to say, this is beyond disappointing. Not only are we getting served cut-up versions of the formerly ambitious Story Missions, but we're also expected to pay a full Hollow Knight's worth of money for each batch despite them likely going to be 1-2 hour experiences. Yikes!

On the positive side, at least the new PvP game mode called Flashpoint will be entirely free for everyone. So while the PvE side of Overwatch 2 may as well not exist, at least the PvP stuff seems like it's in capable hands.

Whatever the future may bring, I'll make sure to let you know once Blizzard announces something new. Until then, you can read a little bit more about Overwatch 2's future over at the official website.