What happened to Overwatch 2’s story mode?

Way back in 2019, Blizzard officially announced Overwatch 2 and promised all-new features. Story-based PvE missions were one of the biggest new elements of the sequel and a replacement for 2016’s Overwatch. Not only would these missions offer a unique, co-operative experience, but they would also dive deeper into the Overwatch lore. These were features often thought lacking with the first Overwatch, so players were excited for what was to come. 

The game was delayed several times before its October 2022 release, and with each push back, the devs went silent on story mode. So, what happened to the anticipated Overwatch 2 story mode, and is there a chance that it could make a return? 

Overwatch 2 story mode was intended to be the newest, major feature that would set the sequel apart from the original 2016 game. This mode would expand the lore of the world and its characters with a linear campaign while providing exciting player vs environment missions. The mode was also going to be a cooperative experience, much like the main PvP modes.

A separate game mode from the Overwatch 2 story mode was Hero Missions. These missions would revolve around a hero progression system. The system would include a talent tree that allowed players to customise each hero’s abilities. Replayability was an important aspect of the Hero Missions. The missions were going to be designed to be replayed, with different enemy compositions and customisable hero skill sets adding to the replayability factor. 

As mentioned, Overwatch 2 received several delays after the initial announcement in 2019. When the game was first announced, there was a strong focus on the PvE mode, hence why players were so hyped. However, as the years went by and the game continued to be delayed, Blizzard went silent on updates for story mode. 

The game was released in October 2022 in early access, but there was still no word on when the promised story mode would be released. In May 2023, a significant development occurred when, during a Twitch livestream, the Blizzard devs confirmed that the Hero Missions had been completely scrapped. 

During the stream, Jared Neuss, executive producer at Blizzard, explained that the Hero Missions (the story PvE mode) were simply too much to put together as it would involve having to “remix every character’s abilities.” Neuss went on to say that the skill tree elements were completely gone, “we won’t be delivering that dedicated Hero Mode with talent trees… Those things are just not in our plans anymore.”

This cancellation did not bode well for the Overwatch 2 story mode, but it was not all bad news for those looking forward to the PvE story missions. Overwatch 2 was officially released out of early access in August 2023. Season six of the game came out at the same time, and with it finally came some long-awaited story content. 

Season 6: Invasion featured three Story Missions, which were meant to be the first of many, acting as the introduction to Overwatch 2 story mode. The missions were set during the null sector uprising and invasion within Overwatch lore. 

Players have the option to choose from certain heroes in each mission and are tasked with completing particular objectives relating to the narrative of the mission. The three Story missions are still available to play in Overwatch 2, and they are as follows: 

These missions were a step in the right direction for the promised story mode, as they offered more of a narrative experience, such as cutscenes and more significant dialogue and interactions between characters. However, the reception to the initial story missions was lukewarm, with criticism of the general lack of depth. There was also disappointment due to the missions not having a proper progression system, as was originally promised. 

The story missions were also costly. To play the missions, players had to pay $15. For the amount of money that they cost, many just did not feel that the missions were worth it. The missions didn’t do well financially, on top of the disappointment from players, leading to further uncertainty for the future of Overwatch 2’s story mode. 

At the time of writing, there is evidence to suggest that the Overwatch 2 PvE story mode has been cancelled, or at the very least, completely deprioritised. The speculation surrounding the cancellation of story mode intensified in January 2024, when a round of layoffs at Microsoft greatly affected the teams working on the story missions. The Story Missions tab in the Overwatch 2 game menu was drastically reduced in March 2024. 

At the time of writing, May 2025, there have been no significant updates regarding Overwatch 2’s story mode, and Blizzard seems to be putting all their efforts back into PvP. This suggests that it has been shelved or completely scrapped, at least for now. 

There are several reasons why the Overwatch 2 story mode failed to become a significant new feature of the Overwatch franchise, as it was intended to be. The developers have spoken out about the difficulties of adapting the existing game mechanics and hero abilities to a PvE system. 

When speaking to Kotaku in an interview, anonymous Overwatch devs emphasised this struggle: “Overwatch’s PvP gameplay just turned out to be very difficult to adapt for PvE. Mostly because of how differentiated and PvP-oriented the hero kits are.” 

Blizzard simply promised more than was realistically feasible to deliver, and unfortunately, it took a significant amount of work from talented and hard-working developers to come to that conclusion. 

Other factors that are sure to have had an effect on the failure and/or reduction of the story mode include the following: 

Overwatch 2’s story mode had big ambitions, but unfortunately, Blizzard was unable to deliver what they planned. Though once intended to be a huge expansion, it wasn’t feasible in the grander scheme of things. The PvP elements could not transfer over to a PvE structure with ease, and what was produced was not even close to the kind of depth that was promised. 

However, it isn’t all doom and gloom when it comes to the Overwatch 2 PvE story mode. There are plenty of ways that Blizzard could incorporate it more smoothly into Overwatch 2, though they will need to be more realistic with their promises. Smaller-scale narrative events could be a great way to do this. 

It might not be for a while, but hopefully, the three-story missions currently available won’t be the last narrative beats players will get to experience in the Overwatch universe.