Highlights
- The cutscenes in Overwatch 2's Invasion story missions are streamed into the game, not downloaded, which helps prevent the game's file size from becoming too large.
- Some Overwatch fans are disappointed with the scaled-back PvE content and paywall for missions, but others are excited to see the game's story progress.
- Blizzard can create longer, more immersive cutscenes for Overwatch 2's PvE missions since they are streamed, giving fans more exciting cinematics to look forward to in the future.
Blizzard has revealed that the cutscenes in Overwatch 2's Invasion story missions are streamed into the game, not downloaded, which will help the game's file size from ballooning out of control. The Overwatch 2 Invasion update is set to be the biggest update the hero shooter has seen since it launched in early access last year, with a new hero, new game modes, and the first three PvE story missions.
Overwatch fans may be disappointed by how some of the Overwatch 2 PvE content has been scaled back and the fact that the missions have been blocked behind a paywall. Others will just be excited that the game's story is finally progressing beyond Winston's recall. Blizzard has consistently done an incredible job with the Overwatch 2 animated shorts, which have left fans hungry to see what happens next in the game's story and see how the various characters interact with each other.
The Overwatch 2 PvE story missions are sandwiched by fresh cutscenes that are just as action-packed and exciting as the animated shorts that Blizzard has released over the years. As Game ZXC discovered in our hands-on sessions, these cutscenes help set up the missions that players are going on with the various members of the Overwatch team, while also offering an overarching narrative that keeps fans engaged from one location to the next. There may be some concern from Overwatch 2 players that the cutscenes will make the game's file size balloon out of control, but since Blizzard is streaming the cutscenes into the game as opposed to making players download them, that shouldn't be a concern.
This way, Blizzard doesn't have to hold back when it comes to fresh Overwatch 2 PvE story missions and cutscenes. The cutscenes can be as long as needed to properly tell the story. This should be exciting news for fans of Overwatch's lore, as they should be able to look forward to plenty exciting cinematics in the months and years ahead.
Unfortunately, the story missions being added to Overwatch 2 through the Invasion update are the last ones that fans can expect to see this year. The next set of Overwatch 2 story missions aren't coming until 2024 at the earliest. However, there's a chance more animated shorts could be added to the game in the interim, like how Blizzard recently released the Sojourn animated short in Overwatch 2, presumably through the same streaming trick that it's using for the story mission cutscenes.
Overwatch 2 is out now for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
