The saga of Overwatch PVE content has been a long one and kind of disastrous for Blizzard. The once-promised feature was delayed, and eventually cancelled. Now a much more minor version of it finally appearing. However, it’s behind an OW 2 Paywall. A very small offering compared to what was originally planned, and somehow manages a much larger price tag.
Fans aren’t happy. Other content is coming soon, but even the Battle Pass has turned out to be a pretty raw deal. It’s all a pretty shameless cash grab and it feels like it’s proof that despite apologies, Blizzard won’t ever make any meaningful cutbacks in how dramatically OW 2 is monetized.
OW 2 Paywall in Front of PVE Missions
The latest batch of content for Overwatch has been announced as Overwatch Invasion. It’s a new update which is including some extra content, specifically a bit of a token effort in PVE. This game mode has been scrapped by Blizzard but parts of what was made seem to be making their way out in the form of story missions. It’s a very similar system to the story content in Overwatch 1. Since this is a considerably watered-down version of the mode and not much different to the first game, a lot of players didn’t expect to be paying for it. That’s not the care though.
Source: Blizzard
Blizzard has stuck the story mode missions behind an OW 2 paywall. That makes sense in some ways. It’s kind of DLC-like content and the now cancelled story mode was originally planned to be paid. However, the actual size of the update and the price tag leaves a lot to be desired. The story missions are going to be $15-40, depending on the bundle and extra content that you want. Having what Blizzard is calling “permanent access” is the main thing you’re paying for here. On top of that, from what’s been shown so far it seems like the missions will only amount to a few hours of gameplay.
It’s a price tag that’s a more shameless ratio of content to cost than pretty much anything else in gaming.
Given the already horrendous monetization of Overwatch 2, the OW 2 Paywall for PVE missions still feels like a step too far. There will likely be plenty of the game’s playerbase who are so desperate for anything more substantial with OW’s characters that they pay it though. The story mission price is a good demonstration that Blizzard isn’t really considering easing up on the OW 2 pricing, even after the cancellation controversy.
OW 2 Mythic Skins Could Take Years for Some Characters
One new element of the skins this year with OW 2 was the introduction of Mythic Skins. These are the highest-tier skins which sit at the end of each Season’s Battle Pass. These promised to be a level above what came before, with some offering customization (Although, the degree to which they’re worth the upgrade has varied). However, since Mythic skins come once a season, just how long is it going to take to get through every character?
One player on reddit did the math and found it’ll take maybe 6 years for the final character to get a Mythic skin. That’s not even including the number of new characters they’ll add in that time. Considering that, it potentially means some characters will never get one, or some will get more than one before the whole cast is done.
Image Credit: Blizzard
These numbers are surprising, but they point to a bigger problem with the Battle Pass. It won’t always include something for your main. It’s possible some players will have to wait out multiple Battle passes without getting anything they’re actually interested in, or paying for a pass to unlock one minor cosmetic for one character. It’s a problem that other Battle Pass focused titles have managed to avoid.
Between the Battle Pass not exactly catering to the player base and what remains of PVE content coming at a large prize, it’s not looking too bright right now. Every development seems to come with higher and higher paywalls from Blizzard. If the game continues in its current trajectory, the backlash against these greedy practices will start to show in engagement and playtime. Ultimately, the more players Blizzard alienates the fewer players will be willing to pay in the future.
About Post Author
