Overwatch 2 Engagement is Already Slipping, Overwatch League Likely On its Last Legs
Things are arguably better for Blizzard than they have been for a while given the successful launch of Diablo IV, but what about another game that recently launched, Overwatch 2? Things aren’t so rosy there. Blizzard recently canned the game’s paid PvE component, and according to the latest Activision Blizzard earnings report, despite going free-to-play and delivering a fairly steady cadence of new content, Overwatch 2 is already starting to bleed players.
Per Acti-Blizz, engagement and player investment declined in the last quarter, which isn’t what you want to see from a relatively recent high-profile live service game. That said, there’s some hope that the upcoming Overwatch 2: Invasion season can turn thing around.
“While engagement and player investment in Overwatch 2 declined sequentially in the quarter, the Overwatch team is looking forward to the release of Overwatch 2: Invasion. This will be the largest seasonal update yet, planned to include new PVE Story Missions, a new game mode, and a new hero progression system as well as an additional hero.”
As mentioned above, Overwatch 2: Invasion will offer some PvE story missions, but there are some pretty big caveats. There will only be three missions and Blizzard is charging $15 for them. This after they originally promised 100s of PvE missions for Overwatch 2. Given the PvE missions are premium content of questionable value, I’m not sure how much they’re going to move the needle for Overwatch 2.
Meanwhile, in other not-great news, it seems like the writing may be on the league for Overwatch League. Acti-Blizz is going to force the current teams to vote on an “updated operating agreement,” which will almost certainly offer less attractive terms. If the teams don’t accept the new agreement, they’ll all be paid a flat $6 million termination fee.
“As previously disclosed, our collaborative arrangements for our professional esports leagues continue to face headwinds. During the second quarter, we amended certain terms of our collaborative arrangements with team entities participating in the Overwatch League. According to the amended terms, following the conclusion of the current Overwatch League season, the teams will vote on an updated operating agreement. If the teams do not vote to continue under an updated operating agreement, a termination fee of $6 million will be payable to each participating team entity (total fee of approximately $114 million). As of June 30, 2023, a termination liability has not been accrued. Total revenues from the Overwatch League comprise less than 1% of our consolidated net revenues.”
While I suppose Overwatch League may limp on, the fact that Acti-Blizz is putting all this out there is very telling. As is them spelling out that Overwatch League accounts for less than 1 percent of their revenues. Ouch. Say what you really mean.
Overwatch 2 can be played on PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, and Switch. The Invasion season kicks off on August 10.
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