Leaks indicate that Activision Blizzard’s shooter Overwatch 2 may be delayed again.
Overwatch 2, the sequel to Overwatch, was announced at Blizzcon in 2019 and has created high expectations among fans. Heroes should be reworked, a new campaign mode should exist and many other changes should be tinkered with. All of this should also be playable in the near future.
Since then, however, hardly any information about the game or its development has been revealed. The few news that have been brought to light through leaks, however, do not bode well. Known Overwatch players and leakers write that the release of the game has been postponed and that it will probably not be released until 2023.
The reason behind this is that the developers are not satisfied with the progress. Twitch streamer and leaker Metro posted on Twitter on Sunday that the new heroes, campaign and maps are all as good as finished. However, the current heroes are said to need much more time to get the balance right. It is also a huge problem for the developers to create a fair environment on the new maps where the old and new heroes fit together.
OW2 News
I've heard from multiple people close to my original source with OW2 that the development is taking longer than expected. From what I can gather a release in 2022 does not seem likely anymore. I hope this is false and I'm proven wrong.
— Metro (@Metro_OW) August 7, 2021
The gigantic amount of work required to rework the existing heroes to fit seems to be the biggest obstacle to keeping Overwatch 2 on schedule. The developers were reportedly not prepared for these circumstances and therefore need more time to bring Overwatch 2 into a well playable state. Possibly this could even take another year.
Blizzard has already taken a lot of criticism in the past month. Delaying a hotly anticipated title for so long would be just the latest in a long line of disappointments from the company. While Overwatch relies on a five-on-five format, several sponsors have pulled out of the Overwatch League and Call of Duty League. In addition, professional players are gradually moving to other franchises. Blizzard must seriously ask itself whether much of its own fan base will remain.
