The Overwatch 2 developers have confirmed that features from the upcoming PvE mode will be coming in Season 4 and teased some big plans for the future.
Overwatch 2’s PvE story missions are still coming later this year, but players will be getting their first taste with the Starwatch event and the Galactic Rescue game mode.
According to Game Director Aaron Keller, the PvP mode will actually feature PvE elements such as Turrets, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg as far as future content goes.
In a blog post, the dev compared the Starwatch event to the Overwatch Archives missions in helping create building blocks for PvE in the PvP game.
Overwatch PvE elements finally come to OW2
After noting how the team would like to expand upon the Starwatch story again, Keller said he was most excited about how PvE elements are included in the mode.
“One of the things that I’m most excited about with Starwatch is that it introduces some PvE elements into a PvP match. Turrets are placed for the Infinite Empire and Doomfist will play alongside the Watchers,” he said. “We’ve been talking about game modes like this lately and would like to explore them more.”
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He went on to suggest that we could very well be seeing more of this PvE crossover again and explained how Starwatch and Archives have a bit in common.
“The Archives missions were design and technology testbeds to allow us to start creating the upcoming Story Missions for Overwatch 2. I’d love for us to think of Starwatch in the same way; the first step into something bigger and more ambitious that we could be doing for the future,” the dev added.
Starwatch will introduce #Overwatch2 PvE Elements into PvP ⚔️
Turrets are placed for the Infinite Empire, and Doomfist will play alongside the Watchers. Starwatch could be considered the "first step into something bigger and more ambitious."
📰 https://t.co/9kG8V8Tarx pic.twitter.com/jUsLewGBmZ
— Overwatch Cavalry (@OWCavalry) April 7, 2023
It sounds like PvE elements of Overwatch 2’s story campaign could very well make their way to PvP once it’s released with more special game modes.
Of course, 2023 will also see the addition of a new standard mode with the largest maps ever designed for Overwatch. Whether or not it will end up incorporating PvE remains to be seen, but it’s clear the team has quite a lot in the works for Season 4 and way beyond.