It had realized it couldn't fulfill its initial plans by the time it released Overwatch 2 last October. Keller stated that Blizzard decided to switch gears around a year and a half ago.

According to game director Aaron Keller, it would have taken several more years to release the originally-planned co-op mode while siphoning development resources from the currently-available multiplayer.

In an interview with GameSpot, Blizzard said it made the shift to maintain the pace of new multiplayer content releases, which had slowed due to work on the Hero Missions. As a result, Overwatch 2's co-op mode will likely resemble the original title's infrequent PvE events. However, Blizzard canceled the paid Hero Missions and Talent system comprising the bulk of the co-op content. The company's latest content roadmap confirms that Story Missions will still arrive with season 6. That offering changed when Overwatch 2 launched last year as a free-to-play competitive game that replaced its predecessor, while Blizzard promised to release the co-op mode later. Blizzard planned to sell Overwatch 2's PvE content as the premium-priced main course while letting Overwatch 1 players transition to the sequel's multiplayer at no extra cost.

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