For Overwatch 2 story missions, it will cost you €15, which unlocks three PvE pranks in Gothenburg, Rio and Toronto. We follow several characters in their fight against Sector Zero, this vile faction of robots all painted purple. For example, the Gothenburg mission proposes to embody Reinhardt, Brigitte, Bastion or Tornbjörn while the latter’s workshop is attacked by a cloud of evil mechs. We must first go through the city to supply defense turrets (a classic convoy escort) before returning to defend the HQ using various turrets that all players can place themselves. The operation requires coordination and strategy. As the battle rages, the protagonists berate each other, curse or react to many different situations. Same care given to the robots of Sector Zero, which can be dismembered and seen crawling on the ground without missing a beat. No doubt, this game mode has been well pampered. In parallel, a free mission in King’s Row is a consolation prize for 100% free players.
The crux of the problem
However, however effective the gameplay and the coating, it is impossible to remove Invasion of its context. In 2019, Jeff Kaplan took the stage at BlizzCon to unveil what was to be the franchise’s next big step: a paid PvE expansion with skill trees that would truly affect how we play each character, not to mention an actual scenario progress. A way to rediscover our favorite characters in every possible way. Alas, last May, the ax fell: this version of PvE will never happen. It is replaced by the series of paying narrative missions that we see today. Outcry, rotten tomatoes, scandal (and even a few tears among the most emotional).
This disappointment is more than understandable: Overwatch 1 had been placed on a drip for three years while the revival came, and now, from the perspective of the average player, it did little or nothing. A perception unrepresentative of the challenges behind the scenes, for sure, but which could not be contradicted by Blizzard. Announce a reduced PvE mode, but paying, three months before its release… The pirouette is enough to leave a bitter taste. Especially thatInvasion didn’t come out of a hat. As its leaders like to recall, the event took two years of preparation to begin the evolution of PvE. Blizzard therefore had free rein to prepare the general public to swallow the pill, say a few additional months in advance, at the very least.
Money does not make the right fashion
Beyond these emotional considerations, Overwatch 2: Invasion also poses a problem with the internal monetization of the product. Consider that 500 Overwatch coins are worth $4.99, and a legendary skin – for Chopper, come on, at random – is worth 1900 coins. A quick mental calculation indicates that this cosmetic is worth roughly 19 bucks. Note already the cunning which consists in selling skins of a value slightly lower than the price of a pack of 2000 pieces: after purchase, you will inevitably have a few deniers left, and it would be stupid to leave them lying around, so you will be more inclined to complete your virtual purse to make an additional purchase. Realize especially that a cosmetic “beast” is worth, according to Blizzard, 5 euros more than their PvE mode. Dirty scale, dirty comparison.
It’s hard not to see Activision-Blizzard as a particularly cynical company where the cosmetics are worth more than the playfulness itself. At the same time, this is what best feeds the free-to-play machine to maximize margins. Better, the finery tends to harpoon the famous “whales”, these big spenders minority by the number but majority by the economic weight. For this, you need content that encourages you to stay for a long time. Hence the profound systemic changes ofOverwatch 2 included in the event Invasion. These concern the progress of our account, individualized according to the heroes, or the new heroic mastery missions used to become master of your character, the release of which will be spread over time, or even the PVP “Hot Spot” mode and the supporting heroine Illari. Warning: these additions are good, and are good for everyone. But it is impossible to ignore their secondary role as a cog in the economic machine, whose springs are more apparent than ever.
A sadly familiar story
Alas, Overwatch 2 is far from the first high-profile multiplayer game to crumble under generated expectations and ever-tighter economic policy. Let’s take the simple example of League of Legends. We promise, we won’t linger too long. In 2015, the MOBA launched its biggest event ever: the Bloody Tide. As the summer progressed, the pirate town of Bilgewater descended into civil war between champions Miss Fortune and Gangplank, and the latter ended up dying in his ship’s explosion. Or…not quite. After a week of doubt, where Gangplank was rendered unplayable due to death, the pirate returned from the waters with a new costume and reworked lines of dialogue. A storyline progression then unprecedented which deeply marked the players. At the same time, the “Black Market” mode relied on the aspect tower defense of the game, but also opened access to new experimental items, some of which were integrated into the main mode.
However, since then, Riot Games has acknowledged that no more events will have the scale of Bloodtide. Too much work, too many small moving parts, too many risks. Same for temporary PvE modes, including the very ambitious Odyssey, accompanied by an atmospheric cinematic Guardians of the Galaxy and an innovative, community-acclaimed meta progression system. Yes, but the problem is that the hours spent on it by the players were far too low to justify bringing back such a mode, even by encouraging team play with friends. Not enough commitment. So it was put away. So much for the amateurs. Overwatch 2 can he succeed where League of Legends had to settle down to reduce costs, even with a barrier to entry of 15 euros?
In order to extend the comparison (we’re reaching the end, stay with me), let’s talk about cosmetics. On League of LegendsTHE skins are divided into price tiers, like in Overwatch, and the legendary cost slightly more than 10 euros. With their reworked animations, their state-of-the-art 3D models and their new voice acting, it’s the ultimate. Except the real crown jewels are the skins ultimate, which flirt with the 20 balls. In return, these outfits traditionally revolutionized in-game cosmetic technology. The very first, Ezreal Pulsefire, introduced the very first upgradeable model: his Iron Man-esque armor progressed from a simple backpack to a full exoskeleton. Later, Elementalist Lux could embody ten different schools of magic, which essentially gave ten skins in one. The latest, Samira Spiritual Fighter? A handful of effects and more, that’s all. The damage indicator changes when you hit someone. Youplaboom. Riot Games justifies this degradation by technical restrictions. They could have been traders and restricted the price too.
Free-to-play and entropy
No matter the financial success of a game, the initial ardor inexorably gives way to the dismal stability that is demanded of products. too big to fail. Overwatch 2: Invasion prides itself on being the most substantial update since the release of the first opus. This is numerically true: new champion, PvE mode, PvP mode, systemic changes… But public perception is not a matter of rationality. If the PvE ofOverwatch 2 is alive and well, it’s not in the expected form, a bit like the returning animals from *Simetierre”.
Beyond questions of quality or pricing, the clumsy birth ofInvasion brings to mind a controversial past. In 2022, Justin Truman, chief development officer from Bungie, gave a startling speech at the Game Developer’s Conference, where he felt it was better to curb the enthusiasm of Destiny 2 developers than let them realize all the great ideas they had. But this is simply pragmatic if we try to control the expectations of the players on a game-service. It’s a marathon, not a series of sprints. If every expansion had to push the envelope, the developers would end up in a hurry not to disappoint anyone.
A lesson that Riot Games learned in pain; because, whether their technical justifications are right or not, the community will always remember the blessed era between 2015 and 2018 when everything was possible, and will not hesitate to use it as a point of comparison, wrong and through. On the other side, impossible to soften the current pricing because it would disappoint the shareholders. The hammer and the anvil. Cosmetics, in particular, are the subject of a mad arms race between publishers, where coughing up 20 euros is becoming a norm for the general public. (This does not justify all practices, let us agree…)
Overwatch 2 already bears the stigma of broken oaths, despite the developers’ best efforts. Aaron Keller, current game directorensures that the direction taken by Invasion is indicative of future years, although the exact shape and thickness of each event update may vary. This is reasonable in itself. But as the saying goes, promises only bind those who believe them. And who still believes them? We wish good luck to community managers of Overwatch to manage the situation over the coming months, it promises to be spicy.