During Blizzcon 2019, Blizzard Entertainment announced that Overwatch 2 is currently in development and will include a long-requested brand new PvE mode. Rumors concerning the game have been circling online for the past couple of weeks stating that Overwatch will be replaced with the new sequel, similar to Fortnite: Chapter 2, and that all progress and unlocks would carry over. The former was proven to be untrue in a sense, whereas the latter was confirmed.
Overwatch 2 will introduce a lot of new content including new story missions for heroes, a new PvP game mode, four new maps on top of all existing maps, new heroes, and complete redesigns for some existing heroes. Here is everything that we learned about Overwatch 2's new PvE mode during Blizzcon 2019!
Story Missions
While the original Overwatch didn't have a PvE mode, there was plenty of back story and world-building to explain the heroes' existence. Overwatch was created by the United Nations in response to an event known as the "Omnic Crisis," that saw human-created robots turn against humanity and attacking civilians. When a rift built between the two leaders of Overwatch, public reception was at its worse which eventually led to the death of the leaders and the team was disbanded permanently.
In Overwatch 2, a new generation of heroes has reunited Overwatch as the rising threat of Omnic forces has returned. The new Story missions will be four-player cooperative missions that are weaved into a consistent story with cinematic intro's and outro's that will push the storyline further.
Hero Missions
As well as Story Missions, Overwatch 2 will also feature a new cooperative activity called Hero Missions where players will need to complete a number of objectives, played on multiplayer maps from both games - similar to Diablo's Adventure Mode. In Hero Missions "the Overwatch team will be called upon to go beyond their limits as they deploy across the planet, defending cities against robot invasions, taking on elite Talon agents, and battling the villainous forces laying siege to the world," Blizzard stated.
Confirmed Heroes
All of the PvE and PvP content in Overwatch 2 will be played with new and existing heroes and Blizzard has introduced a new leveling Overwatch system where players will be able to level their heroes and unlock new talents and bonuses similar to Heroes of the Storm. One example shown see's the player being given the option to choose between two new abilities for the hero, Tracer. The first ability is called Flash and makes Tracer's standard blink ability damage enemies, while the second is called Chain Reaction and gives Tracer's Pulse Bomb secondary explosions from enemies that were damaged by the initial blast. All of these upgrades will only be available in Story or Hero Missions to ensure that PvP is a "fair playing field."
Right now, it's still very early days meaning that a lot more information will likely come out between now and the launch of the game regarding the PvE modes and playable heroes. For now, the following heroes have been confirmed: Genji, Reinhardt, Lucio, Tracer, Mei, Winston, Brigitte, Torbjorn, Bastion, Zenyatta, Widowmaker, Doomfist, Winston and a brand new hero to Overwatch 2 - Sojourn.
Despite the announcement, Overwatch 2's release date is still a long while away with game director Jeff Kaplan stating "I have a feeling we'll be talking about Overwatch 2 again next year at BlizzCon." However, from what little information we know so far, Overwatch 2 appears to be delivering on exactly what fans have been asking for since the original game released back in 2016. Introducing a new PvE cinematic story mode, as well as secondary hero missions and a meaningful progression system shows that the team at Blizzard wants it to be as important to the overall experience as PvP.
Overwatch 2 is in development for PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.