Highlights
- The launch of Overwatch 2's new PvE content has been marked by John Cena's surprise appearance, interrupting streamers' gameplay and causing both shock and amusement.
- The mixed reception to Overwatch 2's PvE gameplay is due to pared-down missions and frustration over the $15 cost, which locks a key part of the free-to-play game behind a paywall.
- Despite the game's growth since early access, Overwatch 2 has become the lowest-rated Steam game of all time, indicating that Blizzard still has work to do to make it as beloved as the original Overwatch.
A group of Overwatch 2 streamers recently got quite a surprise when their playthrough of the game’s new PvE content got interrupted by John Cena at a less-than-opportune moment. The new Invasion update is a major turning point for the free-to-play hero shooter, as it marks the end of Overwatch 2’s early access period and the debut of its long-awaited story missions, and Blizzard has been marking the occasion in several ways. It turns out, though, that a little bad timing can make these problematic for players.
In the lead-up to release, Blizzard started “hacking” different streamers’ games with cryptic messages from a mysterious new character called the Enigma, who was eventually revealed to be played by professional wrestler/actor John Cena. It remains to be seen how much Cena or the Enigma will factor into Overwatch 2 from here on, but the teasers still served as a memorable way to get players hyped for the launch of Invasion.
But while players are already jumping into the new content, it seems the Enigma isn’t done catching gamers by surprise. Twitch streamer and former pro Overwatch player Seagull was recently taking on an intense Invasion mission, and right when he was rallying his team for a push, his screen gets abruptly taken over by a pre-recorded message featuring John Cena. For the next 30 seconds, Seagull is unable to see what’s going on while the ad plays out, with Cena’s Enigma calling on the Overwatch 2 community to take on the new PvE content and share their best moments on social media.
The sudden celebrity appearance in Overwatch 2 may have come at a bad time for Seagull and his team, but it's hard to deny that the whole fiasco’s pretty hilarious. Seagull’s initial shock and exclamation of “John Cena out of nowhere!” gives way to the streamer shouting at Cena as if the actor can hear him, before ultimately laughing at the “unfortunate timing” of it all. The result is a brief yet entertaining livestream moment.
Reception to the debut of Overwatch 2’s PvE gameplay has been understandably mixed. Aside from the missions on offer being rather pared down from Blizzard’s original vision for the game's story-driven content, a lot of fans have been frustrated by the Overwatch 2 PvE missions costing $15, locking a key part of the free-to-play game behind a paywall.
This combined with all the issues that players have had with the game over the course of its early access period – for example, the numerous technical and balance issues and aggressive microtransaction practices – have culminated in Overwatch 2 becoming the lowest-rated Steam game of all time. This rather dubious honor goes to show that, for as much as the game has grown since early access, Blizzard still has quite a ways to go before Overwatch 2 may potentially become as beloved as the original Overwatch.
Overwatch 2 is available for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: Dexerto
