The 2023 Xbox Games Showcase was packed full of exciting reveals like Clockwork Revolution and deep dives into promising titles like Starfield. However, it also featured its share of third party content, such as a trailer for Overwatch 2:Invasion. The big Overwatch 2 Season 6 update is set to bring a new PvP game mode called Flashpoint to the game alongside a Firing Range, a map, and an additional hero. However, the big draw is the PvE story missions.
The surviving portion of Overwatch 2’s once-grand PvE content plan, these story missions are set to move the Overwatch universe forward through character interactions, cinematics, and lore additions. Based on the trailer, the missions are absolutely still promising and are worth looking forward to, as they feature what could be some strong storytelling alongside interesting fights against several new Omnic types. Still, Blizzard has to make sure that these missions stick around for the long haul.
Overwatch 2’s Story Missions Should Never Be Removed From the Game
Fans are well aware that Overwatch 2’s attempt to be endlessly replayable like Diablo 4 did not work out, with Talent Trees and the Hero Mode full of side missions both being scrapped. Unable to be fully realized by Blizzard without more resources at its disposal, the decision was made to cut out the co-op content that would have kept players enjoying the mode long after the story content was finished. However, even if story missions are less replayable, they should not be removed when a season concludes.
Players need only look at concepts like Destiny 2’s controversial content vault to see that removing content in live service titles is not out of the ordinary. If Blizzard treats PvE missions like seasonal content, dropping new batches of co-op content with every passing season, there could be some motivation to retire the previous missions once a season ends. A perfect example of this approach would be how Archives missions came around temporarily and were removed whenever the event ended, building anticipation for their return each year. However, bringing back that formula would be a terrible mistake, as Blizzard is aiming to tell a proper, connected story with these new story missions.
Once a season ends, the story content tied to it should remain in the game, with Blizzard adding another section to the Overwatch 2 menu that houses all the co-op content. Blizzard’s hero shooter does not suffer from an absurd file size like the Call of Duty games, so it will be a long time before the game requires too much storage space to justify keeping downloaded. As such, there is no reason to remove PvE story missions and treat them as a limited time attraction. Hopefully, the approach Blizzard takes is one that leads to a growing roster of story missions that is expanded upon for years to come as opposed to cycling PvE content in and out.
Vaulting PvE story missions would also prevent newcomers from catching up on any story content that they missed in previous Overwatch 2 seasons. With Overwatch 2 being a free-to-play title, new players will constantly be trying out the game, and giving them an opportunity to get fully invested in the franchise’s narrative would be wise. If any PvE content has to be timed, the event modes with limited story - like Season 6’s King’s Row mission - would be the content to go with. Even those missions should be permanent, though, giving players a wider lineup of PvE gameplay to enjoy.
Currently, it is unclear how Blizzard plans to handle the PvE content after Overwatch 2: Invasion releases. No matter what though, making story missions limited time would be a poor choice. While dropping the co-op levels in batches could work well if those mission drops come at a consistent pace, it would be deflating to see them leave the game after a few months. Even without talent trees and side missions, there will be players who want to re-experience the story again and again, leading each of their friends through all the missions. Those gamers should always have the opportunity to re-experience that content, with every story mission that comes to Overwatch 2 being a permanent addition instead of a temporary one.
Overwatch 2 is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
