Blizzard admits Overwatch 2 engagement is in decline in latest earnings report

Activision Blizzard has admitted that Overwatch 2’s engagement and player investment has “declined sequentially” in its Q2 2023 earnings report.

Overwatch 2 has had a bit of a rough time since its launch last year. The revamped hero shooter saw the title move to a 5v5 format and made several adjustments to the heroes to shift the focus toward more action. Blizzard has maintained the shooter through various seasonal updates, often offering a new battle pass and potentially a new hero to bring players back.

With that being said, Overwatch 2 has definitely been the cause of some problems for Blizzard. The promised PvE mode for the game was announced to be massively reduced in scale, causing uproar from the community who were excited about the mode. Many have questioned the purpose of Overwatch 2 now that the PvE has been scaled back, which was one of the reasons the title moved to its sequel in the first place.

It appears that the pivot to a sequel may now be struggling to captivate the masses. The developers admitted via a recent earnings report that interest and engagement from players has “declined sequentially” for Overwatch 2 over the last quarter.

Exactly what this looks like on the financial end, remains unclear. Activision Blizzard is still raking in billions of dollars a year, with PC and console titles contributing greatly to the overall sum.

The slice of the pie contributed by Overwatch 2 specifically, however, hasn’t been clarified. The publishing giant merely admitted the title was in decline through the latest quarter.

Blizzard hopes Overwatch2: Invasion will re-spark interest with players

However, Blizzard is hopeful that the release of Overwatch 2: Invasion in Season 6 will spark interest in the hero shooter once more.

“While engagement and player investment in Overwatch 2 declined sequentially in the quarter, the Overwatch team is looking forward to the August 10 release of Overwatch 2: Invasion,” the report states.

Not only will this update be one of the largest the game has seen, including new PvE story missions, the seasonal patch will also see a new game mode introduced, a hero progression system, and an “entirely new hero.”

The future is yet to be determined for Overwatch 2, but with the player interest evidently dipping, stakes are high for Invasion to revitalize the game back to what it was before.