Overwatch has been a fascinating game to follow, as it started as one of the most promising and exciting multiplayer projects we had seen in some time. It received great acclaim, won trophies and awards, saw strong post-launch support, and generally speaking all the stars seemed to be aligning that the future was very, very bright. Then things began slipping away as Blizzard probed for a sequel, leaving the original game rather barren and lifeless before moving onto a numbered follow-up that left a lot to be desired.
With the rise of Marvel Rivals and other hit hero-shooters, Blizzard needed to go big with Overwatch as part of the annual Spotlight, and in our experience, it has achieved this feat. But dropping the "2" begs the question as to whether even Blizzard regards the evolution to Overwatch 2 to be a successful endeavour, a question Gamereactor posed to Overwatch leadership during a press conference at the developer's Irvine headquarters in California.
When asked about whether the Overwatch 2 era was a success in Blizzard's eyes and if it would have done anything differently in hindsight, the developer told us.
"What would I change if we could go back? Probably not call it Overwatch 2," chuckles Head of Live Games/Mobile Development, Walter Kong. "When I look back at that period, I do think that it was a positive period for us, as we made an important transition. We made a transition to an ongoing live game and that wasn't easy, it was really, really hard. I credit the leaders on the team for shepherding the organisation through that. I could see with time on the team that became something that felt more natural to deliver seasonal content and it felt more natural to respond to players. So I think it was a necessary period of challenge that we had to get through to get to where we are today. I don't think we could jump straight here. So, while I think it would be... just thinking back of what we experienced makes me feel a bit exhausted during those years, but I think it's what allowed us to take Overwatch to the future."
Game Director Aaron Keller then expanded further: "It's always difficult to look at the past and then decide the things that you would do differently because we're in a position where we had a game we were running that we needed to figure out what the best way was to run that game. I think that if you look at the past few years, what we've done with Overwatch is we've really focussed on that core competitive PvE experience, and yes, that is different than some of what Overwatch 2 was envisioned to be. What we started hearing from players as we put more and more time and energy and resources into continuously improving the game, was that it did feel like we had earned the '2'. I don't think that moving forward, this isn't an admission of a mistake, this is us really saying our vision and our commitment to the future of Overwatch is for this live-service, is for this always on, forever lifestyle game."
Keller rounds out with: "And I think one thing to recognise, the way I look at games like this and players for it, is they need to have confidence in the game and the team in the present in order to be able to invest time into the game in the future. So what we've been doing for the last two years is developing that trust with our players, and part of what Season 1 is about, is that now we have that trust, we're using it to go as big as we possibly can and to push this game to the next level, and hopefully give even more players that confidence that they can jump in to play Overwatch because it's going to be here for years to come."
So big hopes from Blizzard for the future of Overwatch. What the developer did make clear however is that the cadence proposed for 2026, including 10 new heroes over the calendar year, might not match future years. Blizzard expressed that it will look at various ways to bolster the game, perhaps with an emphasis on fresh maps, maybe hero reworks, or additional ideas beyond this. The point is, 2026 looks to be a great return to form for Overwatch and all being well, it will stay in form for many years to come.
For more on Overwatch, see our report on the Switch 2 edition of the game here, with some exclusive added extras about how the game has been designed to fit the handheld platform.
<bild></bild>