Blizzard has reportedly scrapped Overwatch 2’s future PvE content due to poor sales of its campaign missions, causing the entire Overwatch team to be denied bonuses. Read on to learn more about the cancellation and the rescinding of their bonuses.
Overwatch 2’s PvE Story Missions Did Not Sell Well
Future PvE Plans Reportedly Scrapped as its Dev Team Almost Completely Laid Off
Over the weekend, Jason Schreier from Bloomberg reported that Overwatch 2 developers have been informed that " the company does not plan to finish any of the remaining planned PvE[Players vs Environment] content," and instead will wholly focus on PvP (Player vs Player). This stems from how, back in January, Blizzard took part in the gaming industry-wide layoffs and fired almost everyone from Overwatch 2’s PvE team.
Bloomberg lays out Blizzard spokesman Andrew Reynold’s statement on the matter, wherein he explains that the company has been "building the game alongside our platers, and more quickly addressing their feedback" since last year. Reynold denotes that they make decisions from the community’s feedback and that it will be "good for our business and the future of the game."
The decision to ultimately stop PvE production was due to the underwhelming sales of Overwatch 2’s paid pack of campaign missions released last year. The players spoke with their wallets, feedback was received, and Blizzard acted as they saw fit.
Poor PvE Sales Led to Entire Overwatch Team Not Receiving Bonuses
While still on the topic of poor sales, Bloomberg further reports that the entire Overwatch team, not just the remains of the PvE team, were not given bonuses due to the franchise’s poor sales. Schreier explains that Blizzard employees are eligible to receive bonus checks based on the company products’ performance. These bonus compensation packages have been a high selling point of Blizzard’s work culture for decades, and they are annually given twice a year during August and March.
However, there was a recent change in policy across Blizzard in 2023, where instead of looking at the entire company’s success, "the payouts became tied to the performance of each specific franchise," Schreier explains. Seeing as Overwatch 2 was not as successful as its Blizzard peers in World of Warcraft or Diablo 4, the dev team was told last August 2023 that they would not be receiving bonuses. However, Schreier’s sources allegedly claim that "the company would cover some of their bonuses to make up for the shortfall."
Unfortunately, earlier this month, when the first half of the bonus should’ve been given out, "the company informed developers that they would receive a stunning 0% of their bonus targets."
Had there been no changes in policy back in 2023, the Overwatch team would have still received their expected bonus. Former Blizzard presidents Mike Mohaime and J. Allen Brack were said to have fought for the compensation package to remain as is, because if tied to corresponding franchises, then "everyone would want to work on the most successful games rather than experiment with new ideas." However, during the discussion. Then CEO of Activision Blizzard Bobby Kotick argued that "those behind the most lucrative products should be rewarded the most."
With Kotick gone and new Blizzard president Johanna Faries coming from Activision itself, she has reassured employees that the profit-sharing plans are in her sights as she steps into the position.
Source:
Blizzard Makes Big Changes as ‘Overwatch 2’ Struggles
