After years of delays and a controversial development cycle, Blizzard replaced its competitive 6v6 hero-based shooter, Overwatch, with its sequel back in 2022. Despite the switch to a 5v5 formula, the developers promised that the sequel would be a significant upgrade over the original game and bring us all new PvE content, heroes, maps, and game types to dig into.
After two years, it’s clear that Overwatch 2 has failed to live up to expectations. Blizzard’s decision to axe certain parts of the sequel hasn’t gone down well among gamers, and when you add predatory monetization tactics to the mix, things get even worse. The company ruined many great things about the first Overwatch, including the animated shorts, which were essential to the FPS experience.
Overwatch 2 Animated Shorts are Horrendous
While the Overwatch franchise doesn’t feature in-game cut scenes, Blizzard has worked to build its incredible universe and lore through other means. We’ve received plenty of Overwatch comics and short stories that go a long way digging into the characters and expanding on their backstories. However, the most effective way Blizzard told us about the franchise’s universe is through animated shorts.
Since the release of the first Overwatch, Blizzard has given us a number of animated shorts that showcase specific heroes and provide us with more context for what’s happening. Seriously, we can’t forget about the legendary Dragons, Alive, and Shooting Star animations, which evoked the quality we’d expect from companies such as Pixar.
With the release of the sequel, many in the community expected that Blizzard would continue its run of dropping high-quality animated shorts.
I’ve been rewatching all the animations back for Overwatch one and… Damn it Blizzard you had it all.
byu/Spiritual_Alarm_9898 inOverwatch
Since the release of Overwatch 2, we haven’t really seen Blizzard exploring much when it comes to these incredible cinematic shorts. Even though the animated shorts for Kiriko and Sojourn were quite fantastic, they simply didn’t compare with the ones we saw for the original Overwatch.
So far, all animated shorts we’ve seen for the sequel lack the vibrancy and genuinely feel less alive. It’s just basic origin animations without the depth we saw with the cinematic masterpieces for the original game. Initially, it was felt that Blizzard had been neglecting this aspect of the franchise in favor of the Overwatch Netflix series. However, even that didn’t see the light of the day in the end.
Ultimately, the way Blizzard has handled animated shorts in recent years just proves that the company simply doesn’t care about its player base anymore. Its sole aim is profit maximization through the worst means possible, and not flesh out the world of Overwatch with the sequel like many of us had hoped for.
Blizzard is Bringing Back a Nostalgic Mode in Overwatch 2
Overwatch 2‘s journey so far has been nothing but full of controversies. From the frustrations over the cancellation of the PvE aspect to the gameplay changes, the title has faced a lot of scrutiny. With the way Blizzard has treated this sequel, gamers aren’t sure about the title’s long-term stability.
However, Blizzard isn’t giving up that easily, as it recently announced that the much-desired 6v6 mode will make a return to Overwatch 2, fulfilling one of the biggest requests since its removal.
Planned for a week after Season 14 begins, alongside introducing the next tank hero, we’ll see two versions of 6v6 being tested throughout the entirety of the season. Not only that, Season 13 will feature its own playtest centered around variations of 5v5.
New fans of the franchise are hyped to try 6v6 for the first time, while veterans look forward to running tank duos such as D.Va and Winston. It’s still crucial to keep in mind that Blizzard hasn’t confirmed a permanent return of 6v6 in the game. The developers have stated that it would be a consideration going forward, depending on the results of the test and overall reception.
With that said, do you think Blizzard has dropped the ball when it comes to Overwatch‘s short animations? Let us know in the comments below.
