The development team behind Overwatch 2 stated that it is unconcerned by declining player engagement saying it is just a normal part of being free-to-play.
Overwatch 2 Invasion Importance Downplayed
Blizzard has recently launched the new Invasion which is the sixth season of Overwatch 2. Activision Blizzard did state though that the game’s engagement and player investment had declined during the three months to June 30, 2023.
In a recent interview with reporters ahead of the sixth season’s launch, Blizzard downplayed the importance of Invasion as a ‘make or break’ moment for the game.
“There’s this interesting thing about how we stacked a bunch of content on Overwatch 2 Invasion,” executive producer Jared Neuss said. “We did that because we were experimenting with different seasonal structures, and one of the things we really wanted to try was, what if we just put all this big stuff, these awesome additions, and different expressions of the game together?”
“That really isn’t like a, ‘oh there’s so much riding on this’ kind of a thing for us. For us it’s really about, what does a good season look like? We’ve tried a bunch of stuff, right? We tried a very thematic approach with Season 5. We’ve tried different things in Season 2 and 3.”
“So it’s less about, ‘is there all this stuff riding on Overwatch 2: Invasion?’ and more about, ‘what do we think is the right rhythm and cadence, and how do we create these big moments for players?’ “
Declining Player Engagement is Normal
Nuess also explains that the declining player engagement is just a “normal ebb and flow of players.” This is due to the game’s free-to-play status which lets players try it out and get out whenever they want.
“The declining stuff is basically, we are a free-to-play game and it is very easy to both come to the game and check it out, and to leave to check out other stuff,” Neuss said. “We see a normal ebb and flow of players. There’s nothing concerning to me or the team about any of that.”
Overwatch 2 is now available on PC, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/s.