Despite being skipped in Blizzcon 2021’s opening ceremony, Blizzard revealed several details about Overwatch 2 in a separate livestream. The surprisingly in-depth preview showcased the game’s new skill system, story, and hero missions.
Overwatch 2 was first revealed at Blizzcon 2019, though details have been sparse since. In the presentation, game director Jeff Kaplan affirmed that the game is a full sequel and not an add-on, as some fans speculated.
The presentation took a deep dive into the sequel’s new talent system, which allows players to unlock and equip different abilities. Each character gets their own individual skill tree complete with different talents that change their playing style. For example, one Solider 76 build allows the character to emit a healing aura that knocks other players away. Blizzard showed different elemental abilities as well, like freezing and electrical powers.
Blizzard gave a closer look at the game’s new PvE hero missions. Missions can take place on all of the game’s multiplayer maps and feature several tweaked variants that bring new enemies and mission types. The mode is a major part of the game’s progression system, as it grants players experience points. Blizzard says it plans to include hundreds of different missions in the game to keep the mode from feeling like a grind.
Players got a quick gameplay look at Sojourn, a new character that was revealed in 2019. The character uses a rail gun that has a rapid-fire mode and a high-damage single shot-mode that rewards players with high aim skill.
The presentation revealed new maps, includes New York and Rome, tweaks to the game balance, and more details about the game’s story. Blizzard says that plot will be more directly integrated into the game this time around and that players will get different dialogue depending on which heroes they take into missions.
