Overwatch 2 Game Director Aaron Keller has addressed criticisms that Blizzard Entertainment “dropped the ball” when it comes to issues like story content material, PvE, and animated shorts.
The face of Blizzard’s in style hero shooter opened up about the crew’s struggles during an interview with content material creator Jay3 and Overwatch 2 voice actor Conor McLeod. Although the multiplayer title is essentially identified for its team-based gameplay, Keller acknowledges that some story content material will need to "come back" for Overwatch 2 to be "firing on all cylinders."
“One of the things that we hear our players talk about a lot, you see online… it feels like Overwatch has dropped the ball when it comes to story and lore,” Keller mentioned in response to a query from McLeod. “You kinda see that. We used to put a few more of the big animated shorts out than we do nowadays.”
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Overwatch animated shorts are a sore spot for followers. Blizzard initially constructed pleasure with a collection of high-quality cinematics from 2016 to 2023, with every highlighting skills for characters like Reinhardt, Hanzo, Genji, Mei, Bastion, and more whereas additionally displaying how many of its 43 playable characters match into the bigger story. What started as considerably frequent lore drops ultimately began to fizzle out round the release of Overwatch 2 in 2022. It’s been almost two years since followers acquired a 3D-animated cinematic.
Frustrations with the lack of animated shorts reached a boiling level when Blizzard introduced it could be scrapping its PvE Hero ambitions in summer 2023. With a long-promised story-driven mode canceled and animated short releases crawling to a halt, Blizzard had to begin from scratch. Although it’s been years with out a important replace, Keller says the Overwatch 2 crew hasn’t fully left story behind.
“To speak frankly about it, we did have a big plan to go after story in the game. That was the PvE side of it with the campaign and everything like that,” he added. “That didn’t work out. So, it was kind of a bit of a reset moment for us when that happened, and we would like to get back to it. I think one of the best parts of Overwatch is the universe and the characters that are there. That’s definitely a goal of ours to get back to it. There’s been a bit of a step backwards that we had to take in order for us to be able to start moving forward on it again.”
Blizzard introduced a gameplay facelift for Overwatch 2 in February of this 12 months. During its breakdown, the studio introduced a main new PvP game mode referred to as Stadium in addition to the return of free loot field beauty rewards, two new Heroes, and a gameplan for the subsequent 12 months of content material. Many of these additions, together with a basic gameplay change referred to as Perks, have launched since, signaling that Blizzard has discovered its footing because it makes good on important guarantees.
Many of these adjustments have been accepted with open arms by the Overwatch 2 group, however as new gamers flock to see why followers are out of the blue speaking about the 2016 hero shooter again, the want for story content material nonetheless echoes throughout Reddit threads and X/Twitter posts.
One thought many followers – together with McLeod – would love to see is an Overwatch TV collection. Keller says he’s not opposed to the thought, going so far as to say “we’d love to do that.” It’s unclear how, when, or if Keller and the Overwatch 2 crew shall be ready to enter one other golden age. One factor is evident: Keller is aware of Overwatch followers need more story content material.
“I think for us to say that Overwatch 2 is firing on all cylinders, we need to have some of that come back,” Keller mentioned.
Overwatch 2 is at the moment in the midst of Season 17: Powered Up, which options a choice of retro-gaming-inspired skins, Mythic cosmetics for Reaper and D.Va, new Stadium Heroes, and crossover content material with G.I. Joe. Time will inform if Blizzard is ready to regain misplaced ground, however in the meantime, you may examine (*2*). You can even try the 2025 Stadium roadmap for a nearer take a look at some of the content material set to arrive in the close to future.
Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He's greatest identified for his work at websites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a comply with on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).