To put it mildly, the reaction to the new lore update by Overwatch was mixed and this would be an understatement at best. Blizzard, as stated in a tweet from the company, not only declared that Null Sector had pulled back its forces but also left behind “nothing but unanswered questions.” The new lore revolves around a package dubbed ‘ATLAS NEWS REPORTS: Overwatch Responds to the Null Sector Retreat.’ In this, Sojourn is seen debriefing the IJC while players find this plot twist exciting, yet at the same time, they are feeling the opposite.
Gamers have been very vocal about their mixed feelings. On one hand, some have been utterly harsh in their criticisms of Blizzard’s announcement others have been all too glad to embrace a story that is now finally unfolding. For instance, user Sokuda_Daio wrote, “Lore progression ??! In my Overwatch ?? that’s dope”, although he later conceded that it was indeed a bummer that Null Sector simply disappeared unceremoniously. It seems that ItsYeshalot was even more jubilant when he stated, “Thrilled to see the game is making progress, and Overwatch is finally moving on.” As a result, what has seemed like an eternity has finally brought some positivity to the narrative’s forward motion.
Conversely, it must be mentioned that the anti-campaigners represent an opposing side, the coin’s reverse side, and that they are NOT at all satisfied. The PVE cancellation that took place last year continues to be a major letdown for the majority of gamers. Crypto12796239 with his provocative statement, went as far as to say “The cancellation of the PvE ruined storyline for you,” which indeed puts the frustration almost too accurately. Featherskai71 replied to this, saying, “You took all our money and made us wait, then stabbed us in an alley. Anticlimactic doesn’t even start to describe the slap on the face you gave us here.” Ouch.
The PVE drama resurfaces in the conversation with each reply just like a ghost that cannot be foiled. DChaseDefender, a user who is called Lynx, has been repeatedly saying about how they paid $15 just for PVE content and how they are still grumpy about the cancellation. They said “PVE was a fun game mode with lore of the game. I like when games have lore and stories.” Which honestly, fair point?? Like if you’re gonna charge people for story content and then cancel it, that’s gonna leave some scars.
It is a little bit perplexing that the community is so split on what the development resources should target next. Some gamers reckon that the team might be able to enjoy both worlds (old collaborations resuscitated and new ones made), while others are wishing for bugs in servers to be fixed and better matchmaking. User patgames plainly stated, “bring back 3d animation cutscenes, no more brasil server in game, fix matchmaking” indicating the players’ demands these days are distinctly scattered.
To tell the truth, the whole Null Sector retreat issue comes across as a bit sudden. Zunovsky pointed out the irony in the situation saying “the narrative carries on as they toss it aside, really?” which honestly is very relatable once looked at from that angle. They are like closing a major villain faction by simply saying “they’re no longer around, let’s move on” and hoping that players will just take it like that.
On top of that, there is this latent issue of the development team behind the game. Moonlight Lodge Productions posted on their social that the company’s decision to release the entire cinematics and pve team would make it difficult to produce that particular type of content again. The first question through one’s mind will always be about the organization’s change of personnel and how the ones coming in affect the direction of the game, e.g. if the ones that were creating this story are no longer available, the future of OW’s narrative might be an open space of possibilities.
Despite the overall atmosphere being the one of a storm waiting to break, some gamers are trying to see the positive side of things. Nojuxn was of the opinion that “Actually, the reviews have changed from negative to mixed and the game is in its best state regarding gameplay for a long time now.” There is “literally no point in dragging it down for the PVE when it is not even the same dev team from 5 years ago.” Which, okay, that’s actually a pretty balanced take?? The game has improved recently so maybe we should acknowledge that while still being critical of the story decisions.
The whole saga of the lore drop being no more than a debriefing rather than a proper animated content continues to be an issue among players. Darth_Kakarot9696 and GGordinhos were discussing how they miss the long animations but completely understand if the team has their sights set on in-game content. There are also players who enjoy the game on PlayStation and Xbox platforms.
