Blizzard’s Overwatch 2 is now just called Overwatch, and the studio is planning a number of sizeable additions and changes for the popular hero shooter. With the rebrand of any game, there are bound to be questions, but with the last decade of ups-and-downs for Blizzard’s multiplayer shooter, many see this rebrand as an admission of guilt.
However, Blizzard does not see it that way. In a recent roundtable interview, the developers behind the current version of Overwatch explained that the new rebrand is not an admission of guilt, but rather proving that the slew of updates the second game received has given them the courage to drop its numbering.
Blizzard live service head Walter Kong explained that he wishes they never changed the name for the shooter’s second incarnation, saying: “What would I change if we could go back? Probably not call it Overwatch 2.” (Thanks, Eurogamer.)
Nevertheless, Kong explains that the period of the second game was a “positive period” for the team. “When I look back at that period, I do think that it was a positive period for us, because we made an important transition. We made a transition to an ongoing live game, and that wasn’t easy. It was really, really hard.”
“I don’t think this is us trying to admit there was a failure here, especially when we start hearing from the community that we’ve earned it,” game director Aaron Keller told the Eurogamer in a one-on-one chat. “But for us what this is saying is that because Overwatch is this forever game, we don’t want our players worrying about when it’s going to get replaced by Overwatch 3.”
Even with the game’s rebranding, a renewed focus on its PvP gameplay, and plans for more frequent, larger updates, Blizzard isn’t treating the rebrand as a rebrand… even though they are also rebranding it. Instead, Keller says the team sees this as “more as an expansion moment for the game”.
Whatever the case, Overwatch is now seeing a major push in energy from Blizzard. With games like Marvel Rivals releasing new characters and features at a rapid pace, it often felt like Blizzard’s game was slow to the plate. While Blizzard likely won’t ever be as fast as Rivals, fans should no longer feel like they’re constantly waiting for something while watching everyone else open their toys.
For more Blizzard news, read about how the company wants to turn Warcraft into a much bigger, “broader” IP instead of “simply an MMORPG”.
