Blizzard broke the news and disappointed many of the game’s fans from around the globe in a recent financial call lead the company’s president himself, Jay Allen Black. What makes this news even sadder is that, in the same call, Blizzard also confirmed that Diablo IV won’t be releasing this year either, although the Diablo 2 Remake was, surprisingly, not mentioned. If it’s any consolation though, Blizzard did go on to note that the game’s development had already passed “a major internal milestone”, which suggests that development is moving along smoothly although not as fast as most people had hoped.
Why the Overwatch 2 Delay is a Good Thing
The past couple of years have seen game development studios and publishers delay their titles, especially the bigger ones, and most of the time, it’s worked towards their favor. Games like Cyberpunk 2077 are a good example of why games should be delayed further than anticipated if necessary. In Blizzard’s case, they too have their own horror story. Warcraft 3: Reforged was a huge mess and may have permanently derailed any hopes of the studio going back to working on RTS titles. Not to mention, their own success in delaying the World of Warcraft: Shadowlands expansion for a year might have encouraged them to push through with the Overwatch 2 delay. Lest we forget, despite the delay, World of Warcraft: Shadowlands became the fastest-selling PC game of all time at launch and received critical, as well as commercial acclaim. With that said, there never really was a confirmed Overwatch 2 release date. This means that Overwatch 2 is, technically, not delayed. Still, we can’t say that saying that makes this news sting any less for fans of the industry-changing team-based shooter. For now, all we can do is wait to receive more news on Overwatch 2, which is now expected to release on 2022 or later. Hopefully, the said news will be unveiled at BlizzCon 2021, which begins on February 19, if only to serve as a way to quell fan disappointment and get them even more excited at what’s to come.
