Overwatch 2 Unveiled With Enhanced Visuals, Cooperative PvE And Gameplay Looks Dope
At long last, Blizzard finally announced a "supercharged sequel" to Overwatch during BlizzCon 2019 (along with Diablo IV, in case you missed the news). Overwatch 2, the next installment of the developer's hugely popular first person hero shooter, will build upon the original's game foundation of player versus player (PvP) competition, but will also include a new 6v6 PvP mode, along with "a tone of PvE content."
"With Overwatch 2, we’re building the cooperative, narrative-driven game experience that players have been asking for since the original—and that we’ve wanted to make for a long time," said J. Allen Brack, president of Blizzard Entertainment. "We’re looking forward to telling the next chapter of this epic story in-game, and we’re excited to give players a whole-new kind of co-op experience built around progressing and customizing their favorite heroes—all while providing even more of everything they love about Overwatch today."
According to Blizzard, more than 50 million players around the globe have jumped into the original Overwatch universe to date. Competition is fierce, with games like Fortnite, Apex Legends, League of Legends, Dota 2, and so forth all drawing eyeballs, but Overwatch remains hugely popular with a large fan base.
Watch The Overwatch 2 Gameplay Trailer
Coinciding with the announcement, Blizzard unveiled an Overwatch 2 gameplay trailer (embedded above). All of the original heroes are present and accounted for, and players can expect to see the same maps and modes. However, there will be plenty of new and fresh content.
Overwatch 2 will feature "action-packed cooperative Story Missions." It will also have a new generation of playable heroes, more maps and locations (including larger ones for co-op PvE play), and a wide variety of enemies and factions.
"Why a sequel? What does that mean to me as a player of the original game? Well, we thought about it, and for us as gamers, sequels make us nervous. So what we're hoping to do with Overwatch 2 is really redefine what a sequel means. I think some explanation is in order right now," Overwatch game director Jeff Kaplan said at BlizzCon.
Kaplan's explanation about redefining a sequel entailed giving original players recognizable content to play with in Overwatch 2, while also introducing a lot of new stuff. He also talked about Overwatch 2 offering a "shared multiplayer environment where no one gets left behind."
"We want to make sure that all Overwatch cosmetics come forward with you into Overwatch 2, so all your progress matters. Nothing lets left behind," Kaplan added.
He also revealed that "every one of the 31 heroes, plus more, are getting an upgraded look to them." The hype certainly high, and so are expectation. Whether Blizzard can deliver, well, that will have to wait for another day. There's no release date yet—Blizzard said more details on Overwatch 2, including some of the new heroes joining the fray, will be announced at a later date.
