On November 1, 2019, Blizzard unveiled Overwatch 2 at that year’s Blizzcon. After nearly three years, the long-awaited sequel will finally receive a beta next week. Recently, the developers behind the game have expressed their dissatisfaction with its long development.
In an interview with USA Today, main character designer Geoff Goodman described how the team had a plan in place for the development of Overwatch 2.
“We talked about it, all the way back,” he said. “We talked about how on the production side we would develop Overwatch 2 with Overwatch.”
Unfortunately, this plan was derailed by the game’s many delays.
“I think the whole team was a little upset and a little annoyed at the timing of how everything was delayed. Goodman added, ‘There were many reasons for that, it was not just one thing.’
According to the interview, these delays came from production costs.
“It’s a pretty constant topic for everything in the game, actually production costs,” Goodman said. “I mean, Blizzard is not really a studio that’s chained to date, but that does not mean we’re completely free of all worries about production costs and time.”
Goodman says the hardest part of the delays was not being able to share ideas with the players. “It’s hard for us to have these ideas that we want to bring about, big changes, and we’ve kind of locked ourselves in a little bit.”
Goodman also mentioned how excited the team is to re-release new content that players can 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 union and ongoing lawsuits. It is currently set to be released on PC, PS4, Xbox One and Switch, with the closed PVP beta available on PC on April 26th. The full game does not yet have a fixed release date, although PvE and PvP are split, the competition mode turns out to be faster than the cooperative mode.
“I’m ready for us to rise above what has happened and grow from it, do not turn the corner and turn a blind eye to it, just be better,” says senior hero designer Brandon Brennan. “Get these games in the player’s hands and get them excited about something from us for once. I think we’re approaching the moment it at least feels that way to me.”
Brendn Bell is a freelance writer for IGN