The string of failed franchises adopting this business model should have been a sign that it won't work for every game. But this is Activision we're talking about and learning things isn't one of its strong suits. So because the method of unending sequels has worked for Call Of Duty, Activision applies the same strategy to all of its games. Hence why Overwatch 2 exists even though it should
You might think this is apples and oranges. You had to buy both Warcraft 2 and 3, just like you had to buy Smash Bros. Ultimate and Melee. Meanwhile, Overwatch 2 is free. You’re basically getting a new game for the price of only one game! Except, again, that doesn’t mean I only want the new game and never want to see the old one again.
Don’t get me wrong - I don’t mind that there’s an Overwatch 2. Hell, I don’t even give a shit that it’s a free-to-play nightmare that’s going to be dominated by kids with rich parents. I work in show business - the entire world is dominated by kids with rich parents. And I respect that in order to keep their esports racket fresh, Blizzard creates new Overwatch content just like how their professional players create new racial slurs.
We also need to talk about loot boxes, since Overwatch was responsible for increasing their popularity outside the mobile space. Ultimate Team was already a thing, but Blizzard showcased how easily cosmetic items could be monetised through random packages of goodies earned by either levelling up or buying them outright. I had friends who would set aside entire evenings during seasonal events to grind for boxes, hoping that Blizzard would be kind enough to let a legendary skin fall into their laps. None of them were playing for fun, instead waiting for that brief hit of serotonin that comes with a rare drop. Or they could spend money, and as the profits have long shown, so many of us went and did just that.
And that brings us back to the question of __ whether Overwatch 2 needs to exist, or if it's just one giant Activision-endorsed cash grab. While the story mode is enticing, these missions could have easily been added into the base game as DLC. Many players would have gladly paid $20 or $30 to play through a cinematic adventure with Tracer and company, but instead, we're getting a new game that will likely be priced at the same level as other triple-A releases. This means if you want to see the journey of Overwatch's revival you're going to have to pony up $60, and that doesn't feel justifia
No, Blizzard and Google aren’t required to keep their services online. No, this isn’t the first time a major corporation has opened a trap door under a game and made it disappear forever. And, yes, Google refunding people is a pleasant surprise. But in both cases, these are broken promises to fans who paid for something. Overwatch was hugely successful. Stadia was made by a company so large it’s nearly impossible to not use their services in one form or another. These aren’t broke kids - they’re not even Square Enix spinning out because one of their best-written, critically-acclaimed games didn’t do Final Fantasy numbers .
After all, the core concept of the hero shooter is that you have a roster of interesting characters to play with. Taking that idea, and melding it with anything from a sports game, to a side scroller, to a strategy game, to any other genre would be easy, and would give players a new kind of game to dress their favorite heroes up in. Overwatch 2 could possibly be the last real hero shooter, as the concept will soon be nothing more than a feature in most ga
There’s also the porn. Oh my goodness there was so much porn. Overwatch porn hit harder than Tory austerity in a low-income council estate on the outskirts of Birmingham. I suppose it’s a testament to how much we loved these characters that fans were able to create detailed animated films of their main being drilled into oblivion. I respect that dedication, yet it also highlights how blatantly sexualised so much of the cast was, with many of their designs intentionally drawing in the male gaze with conventional body types and poses drawing our eyes to very specific parts of the body. Most of the girls were clearly designed by dudes. \
Well, it turns out I was wrong. Quite wrong. It now looks like Overwatch 2 challenges 2 won't be out until 2022 at the earliest, which likely means regular vanilla Overwatch won't see any significant updates for over a year. And that's a very bad thing when it comes to maintaining a stable fanbase for your multiplayer shoo
I can tell you firsthand why this is a huge blunder from Blizzard. I used to play a lot of Overwatch. It became a nightly ritual to log on, meet up with the large group of friends who gathered online to play, and run through multiple rounds of competitive matches. One of the reasons why we all kept playing was because the game felt like it was always changing. We'd get a new character like Sombra or Orisa. Or a new map would be added to the rotation. Or we'd get a big seasonal event that would add in a new game mode and a bunch of unlockable skins. It felt like a game that kept giving and giving more so than any other game I'd played at the t