In Overwatch 2, everything becomes new by pretending everything stays the same.
There was a time when Overwatch seemed to dominate everything. You couldn’t go on the internet without running into the super-intelligent gorilla Winston, the mysterious terrorist lurking in the shadows Reaper, or the time-jumping Tracer and… well, her butt (purely because of the controversy around it at the time, of course!).
Overwatch Becomes Overwatch 2
But as with many hero shooters, the game’s glory days at Blizzard eventually came to an end. The initial hype faded, and the developers had to deliver to keep fans engaged or bring them back. So everything was fundamentally reworked and relaunched with a fresh coat of paint – and a big, bold "2" in the title.
What was announced as a major successor, complete with new chapters, mechanics, and, of course, a big “2,” ultimately failed to live up to expectations. As a result, Overwatch 2 has been losing large numbers of players month after month.
Overwatch 2 Becomes… Overwatch Again
So another change was needed – which, in this case, is actually something old. Blizzard’s creative and innovative idea now is to rename Overwatch 2 back to Overwatch.
In everyday terms, that means: you play Overwatch, which is actually Overwatch 2, which used to be Overwatch, which was replaced by Overwatch 2, which is now called Overwatch again. Simple.
The developers promise that the story behind the game will now take center stage, with the narrative being told through year-long seasons, accompanied by in-game events, animated comics, hero trailers, short stories, and map updates. The classic three-role system of tank, damage, and support will be expanded with additional subcategories, ten new heroes are on the way, and overall everything is supposed to feel fresher and more dynamic. But it will, once again, be called what it used to be.
All of this feels a bit like a movie studio loudly announcing "Part 2," only to later say, "By the way, we’re just going to call it the same as the first one again. It’s more practical." And in a way, that makes sense. No one has to learn new logos. No one has to explain which installment they mean. Except when talking about that brief period when there was a "2."
Or put differently: Overwatch got a sequel – and then decided to pretend nothing ever happened.