On November 1, 2019, Blizzard released “Overwatch 2” at that year’s BlizzCon. After nearly three years, the highly anticipated sequel finally received its beta next week. Recently, the developers behind the game have expressed dissatisfaction with its lengthy development.
In an interview with USA TODAY, lead hero designer Geoff Goodman detailed how the team developed plans for Overwatch 2.
“We talked about it, long ago,” he said. “We discussed how we’re going to develop Overwatch 2 with Overwatch on the production side.”
Unfortunately, this plan was derailed by multiple delays in the game.
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“I think the whole team is a little bit upset and annoyed by the timing of everything being pushed back. There’s a lot of reasons, it’s not just one thing,” Goodman added. ”
According to interviews, these delays come from production costs.
“For everything in the game, it’s actually the cost of production, it’s a fairly fixed topic,” Goodman said. “I mean, Blizzard isn’t really a date-bound studio, but that doesn’t mean we’re completely free from all the concerns about production costs and timing.”
The hardest part of the delay, Goodman said, was the inability to share ideas with players. “It’s hard for us to have these ideas, big changes, that we want, and we’ve locked ourselves in a little bit.”
Goodman also mentioned the team’s excitement about rolling out new content again for players to enjoy, such as a reworked Orisa and the game’s new PvE content.
Overwatch 2 comes at a time when Activision Blizzard is battling several controversies, including unionization and ongoing litigation. It’s currently releasing on PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Switch, with a closed PVP beta available on PC on April 26. The full game doesn’t yet have a firm release date, although PvE and PvP are split, with competitive mode faster than co-op.
“I’m ready for us to look beyond what happened and grow from it, don’t beat around the bush, turn a blind eye to it, it’s only going to get better,” said senior hero designer Brandon Brennan. “Getting these games into the hands of players and getting them excited about something about us at a time. I do think we’re getting closer to that moment, at least that’s how it feels to me.”
Brendn Bell is a freelance writer for IGN
