Overwatch 2's engagement and player investment is declining, the game's publisher Activision Blizzard admits.
In its Q2 2023 earnings report, Activision Blizzard revealed its free-to-play shooter has "declined sequentially" this quarter. However, it thinks the game's next major update, Overwatch 2: Invasion, which releases next month, should help circumvent the issue.
"While engagement and player investment in Overwatch 2 declined sequentially in the quarter, the Overwatch team is looking forward to the August 10 release of Overwatch 2: Invasion," the publisher wrote in its earnings report. "This will be the largest seasonal update yet, planned to include new PVE Story Missions, a new game mode, and a new hero progression system as well as an additional hero."
Overwatch 2: Invasion will introduce the next batch of story missions and is part of the sixth season of the team-based shooter. Last month, Blizzard confirmed the next batch of PvE missions will be locked behind a paywall, costing $15. Additionally, Blizzard confirmed earlier this month that it is likely Overwatch 2 will not get new story missions for at least the next two seasons after the release of Invasion.
Overwatch 2 launched October 2022 as a free download and got off to a strong start, with over 35 million people playing in the first month. In our review of Overwatch 2, which we gave an 8/10, my colleague Simon Cardy wrote that "Overwatch 2 breathes new life into what was once the sharpest multiplayer shooter around, before it had its edges severely dulled by Blizzard's attention shifting away".
But Overwatch 2 has endured a number of controversies since, none more potent than the cancellation of its long-awaited PvE Hero mode - the one feature that justified the sequel's existence.
Taylor is a Reporter at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.
