'Overwatch 2's lack of new PvE content tied to underwhelming sales performance'

Blizzard has made the decision to remove all planned PvE content from Overwatch 2 and will now be concentrating solely on competitive player-versus-player gameplay, as reported by Jason Schreier from Bloomberg. The underperformance of paid PvE missions in terms of sales is said to be the driving factor behind this pivot.

Last January, Blizzard let go of a significant portion of the team responsible for PvE content, as Jason Schreier reports based on conversations with insiders. The remaining content in development will reportedly be abandoned. Schreier asserts that the focus of the game will now shift completely to PvP gameplay.

According to Schreier, the financial performance of the game has been lackluster. As a result, the developers of Overwatch 2 did not receive their bonuses for the month. Schreier explains that while previously all Blizzard development teams received uniform bonuses based on overall company performance, as of last summer, bonuses will now be tied to the success of individual games. The teams behind other Blizzard franchises such as World of Warcraft and Diablo reportedly did receive bonuses this month.

Last year, it was already apparent that the co-op PvE mode, Hero Mode, had been scrapped. The director at the time mentioned that while Blizzard was still committed to PvE, these game modes would be delivered in a different manner than initially planned. Subsequently, it was announced that PvE content would be offered in a paid bundle. Unfortunately, the first bundle, 'Invasion,' which included three story missions, performed poorly in sales. Consequently, Blizzard has decided not to release any additional bundles. When Overwatch 2 was announced in 2019, the emphasis was on PvE missions.

While a Blizzard spokesperson did not explicitly confirm to Bloomberg that the Overwatch team will cease PvE content production, they did note that the company has been "focusing on the fundamental team-based experience since last year." The decision is said to be based on feedback from the community, as stated by the spokesperson.