After months of waiting for the promised PvE mode and anticipated story missions, Blizzard has finally made an announcement. With the release of Overwatch 2: Invasion comes story missions, a new PvP mode, another hero, and some controversial paid content. The bundles come in two price options, one running at a fairly reasonable $15 and a second one at a rather steep $40. Fans of Overwatch 2 have been awaiting this extra content since the release in October 2022, but this isn't exactly what they were expecting.
Two bundles are on offer in Overwatch 2, offering varying levels of access to the forthcoming content. The smaller bundle, priced at only $15, includes permanent access to Overwatch 2: Invasion story missions, $10 worth of in-game currency, a legendary skin for Sojourn, and permanent access to Sojourn on completion of the story missions. The more expensive premium package includes everything from bundle one but also throws in a battle pass with 20 skips, two extra skins, and another $10 of in-game currency. This is causing some upset for players as Blizzard has failed to produce a lot of what was originally promised from the game and is now charging for heavily delayed and cut-back content.
Why Overwatch 2's Two Invasion Bundles Are Controversial
Many of the fans of Overwatch 2 are put out by the decision to charge money for the extra Overwatch 2 content, which only equates to a few skins, and access to the much-delayed story mode. Players are also concerned by the phrasing of the bundles, as they have been listed as giving permanent access to only that season's story missions. This implies that each season will require more spending to continue playing the campaign, essentially turning a free-to-play game into a premium one. Access to the four projected mission drops would cost players $60 at a minimum.
Blizzard has tried to soften the blow of the required cost for access to the content by listing the prices of each of the extras on offer alongside the story missions. Blizzard has highlighted the fact that each bundle actually gives much more value than is being spent, with the combined values of both the in-game currency and cost of skins equating to more than the bundle cost. The value of the items in the bundles essentially means players are getting the story missions for free while also getting discounted prices for currency and Overwatch 2 skins.
Despite the fact that Blizzard has tried to cover the price of the paid content behind the mask of Overwatch 2 skins and currency, players are still put out by the fact they have to pay at all. Overwatch 2 was always advertised as a free-to-play game, yet the drops of paid PvE content could end up costing the same as a premium release in the long run. Adding to the frustration of the new paid content is the fact that the story missions that are only now being released were supposed to be available at launch. This all comes on top of the once-promising Hero mode for Overwatch 2 - in which players could complete hundreds of side missions and level up talent trees - being scrapped, meaning players could end up paying the price of a full game for a lot less PvE content.
Free-to-play games have always relied on paid content - such as cosmetics and peripherals - to keep themselves afloat, but locking playable content behind a paywall brings new problems to the forefront. As time goes on and the next Overwatch 2 seasons are released, Blizzard may bundle missions together for a discounted price, though this is purely speculation.
Overwatch 2 is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
