Why You Shouldn’t Support Overwatch 2 | column

In theory, I’m looking forward to the unofficial release of Overwatch 2 on October 4th after years of delay, albeit in some kind of Early Access and without the promising (and much-promised) PvE part. There’s no other first-person shooter I’ve played this long and this often. I’ve been Overwatching on and off since 2016, so you’d say a successor is welcome. Especially because the current Overwatch has been on its ass for years as all the attention is on part two.

That dried up stream of content in itself is reason enough not to look forward to the sequel, but so be it. The pandemic, the terrifying revelations about the work culture within Activision Blizzard and the departure of some Blizzard executives, including Overwatch creator Jeff Kaplanlogically caused the necessary delay.

I’ve been going there for years too stories about mismanagement and micromanagement of Overwatch by Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick himself. He is said to have repeatedly interfered with the game’s business model during development and is also responsible for the eSport tunnel vision of recent years. That while at the unveiling in 2019, the focus was really on co-op maps, where you compete against other players against computer-controlled opponents. This is quite at odds with how Overwatch 2 is marketed now: a polished and modified version of what Overwatch already offers. In fact, it’s so bad that they’re already playing Overwatch 2 in the Overwatch League, even though the game hasn’t been released yet.

Now, of course, I don’t know exactly what happened within the walls of (Activision) Blizzard. Still, it’s not a very strange idea that somewhere a decisive decision was made in favor of the shareholders, and at the expense of the fans who were hoping for more depth in the story and the characters that make Overwatch so appealing. And it turns out that the second part this fall when the free game appearswith a Battle Pass system and (still) no PvE.

It doesn’t even bother me that much. It’s a logical choice in today’s gaming climate and loot boxes are past their prime. But it hurts that Overwatch 2 seems to be becoming what the first Overwatch should have been in ages. It hurts that changes like this are held hostage to the once-made promise of an official sequel and not rolled out years ago when there was still a vibrant community.

Which brings me to the sad developments of this week. On Tuesday, the second closed beta of Overwatch 2 began, this time also for Xbox and PlayStation. I duly registered, but I have not had access to date. An optimist would say they must have had a ton of signups and are busy gradually increasing the number of servers available to test if they can handle a large number of players. But the cynic in me sees it as a dirty game.

Activision Blizzard offers a kind of starter pack for Overwatch 2 for 40 euros, which does not coincidentally contain a code for the current beta. If everyone who signed up for this test period has access to it almost immediately, then of course no one will buy this package. Because why would you? There’s virtual currency in there for part two when the game releases in October, some “rare” skins, and you get the Overwatch Legendary Edition with it. Yes, you read that right too. You therefore pay mainly 40 euros to access a test version of a game which becomes free to play. Either you pay this amount for a digital copy of a game released since 2016 and disappear forever when the sequel comes out.

I don’t know which read I find worse, but they are both outrageous. The Overwatch website still says very nicely that Blizzard will try to give access to everyone who has signed up for the beta no later than July 14, but that’s four days before the test ends. If you have so much patience and mastery that you haven’t bought the Overwatch 2: Watchpoint bundle yet, you can probably wait until October. Activision Blizzard can’t make money from those kinds of people.

I may be wrong. Maybe I’ll check my mail and a code for the beta beckons. In that case, you won’t hear me complaining anymore. Then I’ll be too busy looking at Ana’s gorgeous new design. But the most likely scenario is that I will give up someday and now. 40 euros and my credibility in exchange for a code. But even then, I won’t be happy. Because when the beta is over, how can I get back to current Overwatch? With two tanks, two dps and zero support.

Editor’s note: Not even half a day after submitting his column, Marcel bought the Watchpoint Pack in exchange for 40 euros and his soul. He says that the opinions in the column above should no longer be considered relevant or credible and that Overwatch 2 is everything he could have dreamed of. Until Ana gets her inevitable nerf, at least. In consultation, it was decided to publish the original text after all.