Overwatch 2’s PvE story missions are locked behind a paywall

After canceling the highly-anticipated hero mode in May, Blizzard is now charging players $15 to play the upcoming batch of co-op PvE missions, which launch on August 10.

The details:

• Blizzard has announced in a news post that Overwatch 2: Invasion's PvE story content will only be available to those who have purchased one of the two new bundles, effectively locking free-to-play players out of the mode entirely without shelling out some cash. The missions are set in Rio de Janeiro, Toronto, and Gothenburg, with Blizzard claiming that they take place on "massive maps with complex objectives and an in-depth storyline.”
• The $15 base Invasion bundle is the cheapest, providing access to the missions as well as 1,000 coins and a skin for Sojourn, who is also freely available for new players who have yet to unlock her. Those willing to spend $40 on the update can get the Ultimate Invasion bundle, which includes the base bundle's content plus an extra 1,000 coins, legendary skins for Cassidy and Kiriko, and the Null Sector premium battle pass with 20 tier skips.
• Players are outraged, as Blizzard's previously promised "hero mode," which was said to be one of the main reasons for the push for a new Overwatch title in general, was canceled after the company claimed it couldn't deliver on the "original vision for PvE that was shown in 2019." It then promised to create new PvE experiences for the title in the future, with Invasion being the first taste of what's to come, with some players skeptical that the developer will charge more for storylines outside of Invasion in the future.

More Blizzard news:

• The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has requested a "temporary restraining order" to prevent Microsoft from concluding a deal with Activision Blizzard. The FTC claims that despite the FTC's December 2022 lawsuit, Microsoft and Activision Blizzard have not "provided assurances" that they will not continue to push for the deal's closure.
• Blizzard has confirmed that Diablo IV's launch was the best-selling opening in the company's history, grossing $666 million in its first five days of release across all platforms. So far, the company has not revealed how much of the money came from cosmetic microtransactions.