“It takes us over a year to build a new Hero. It takes us a year to build a new Map. Everything in this game goes through a lot of different departments and a lot of different iterations, and it's very resource intensive.”

Aaron Keller, Game Director on Overwatch 2

With the pace of new maps and new heroes for the original Overwatch slowing down as the team at Blizzard shifted its focus to Overwatch 2, it was no secret that its lack of consistent updates over the final few years of its run was something of a problem. Not from a lack of effort, as there was a level of quality found across everything from new heroes to new maps and modes that never waned. Stuff takes time to create, and that’s okay.

But, Overwatch 2 presents “a new era for the game”, where the shift to a free-to-play live service and seasonal Battle Pass model means a lot more than the removal of Loot Boxes and putting that stuff on a progression track for players. Every 9 weeks Blizzard is planning on introducing a new Season with free and premium tiers of cosmetic unlocks, alongside new maps, modes, heroes, and more. And with the story-based PvE experiences set to commence in 2023, cinematic co-op Overwatch, one has to wonder if it’s a cadence the team is ready for.


Sitting down with Game Director Aaron Keller, we asked that very question on account of there being examples of it working and examples of it not. Respawn’s Apex Legends, although a very different style of shooter, delivers each and every Season. The same goes for Fortnite. On the opposite end of the spectrum lies Halo Infinite, where a solid campaign and fun multiplayer sit alongside a very real content drought. And seasons that will end up lasting as long as 10 months.

Not that we expect Overwatch 2 to delay new content to that extent, but with that Blizzard level of polish we’ve seen from the beginning, and the launch sounding like a new beginning for the franchise - one can’t help but wonder how the team is structured.

“The transition to a live service game, and to be able to support a free-to-play game, takes a lot of dedication and planning,” Aaron Keller explains. “And it takes a team that's structured to be able to provide all of that to our players. I'll get into that, but I want to go on a little bit of a tangent because I think that there's something unique about Overwatch. And I think that there's something special about the way we develop games [at Blizzard], the quality and the amount of time that we put into the assets that go into the game.”

“It's a commitment to quality and something that we're always striving for at the company,” Keller continues. “For instance, a Mythic Skin takes over a year for us to build, and that goes through so many different people across the team. It takes us over a year to build a new Hero. It takes us a year to build a new Map. Everything in this game goes through a lot of different departments and a lot of different iterations, and it's very resource intensive.”

“The reason why is that we are always striving to make the very best version possible of anything that we put out in front of our players. It's one of the highest, if not the highest value for our team. And so in order to do something like that takes, at that high of a quality level and at this frequency, takes a lot of effort.”

That effort has resulted in a team size within Blizzard that is now over three times the size of the one that was present when the game launched, not to mention that there’s now additional help and collaboration with other Blizzard teams and even studios from other parts of the industry. And this level of expansion explains why the content roadmap is stacked.


“We have a massive amount of resources poured into this game,” Keller says. “And so, planning for the future is incredibly important. When I say that something takes a year to create, that means we have to plan well over a year in advance. We have been playtesting our Season 8 hero for months internally. We are working on maps that are coming out in Season 11 and Season 13. We are working on Mythic Skins that are over a year out. I agree, that it takes a huge effort to do it, but it's something we've committed to. It's also something that we recognise what it takes to do, and we have the capabilities to do it at the level that aligns with our values. That is, delivering the highest level of quality for our players.”

No doubt it’s a very exciting time for the franchise, and with so much in store, Overwatch 2 is sounding more and more like a new era each and every day.

Overwatch 2 releases on October 5 AEST for PC and Console.