“We have disabled the Paríaso and Antarctica: Pennesula [sic] map as we investigate an issue with performance when certain heroes are played,” says a relatively staid line from this week’s Overwatch 2 Known Issues post.
It’s sprinkles on top of the cherry on top of Overwatch 2’s worst month ever. You’re not getting Overwatch 2’s long-awaited Hero mode, which as far as many people were concerned was the entire reason to have an Overwatch 2. In fact, you’re going to go ahead and pay $15 for the co-op PvE story missions coming in Overwatch 2: Invasion that you’ve been waiting for since 2019.
And, well, now two of Overwatch 2’s new maps don’t work. So say goodbye to Antarctica: Peninsula and Paríaso while they figure out a nasty bug.
Paríaso was introduced in at Overwatch 2’s launch, while Antarctica: Peninsula just released in February of this year. The reason seems to be that there’s a bug involving switching character Mercy’s weapons around that slows game performance to a stuttering low-frame mess for everyone in an entire game lobby. Armed with the bug trolls were (naturally) just holding entire groups of other players’ fun hostage by abusing it on purpose.
It’s another straw on the proverbial camel’s back, just one more frustrating moment for a game where many players just don’t think the development team will get things done anymore.
“Considering trust in the team’s ability to deliver on its promises is at an all-time-low, I had assumed Blizzard wouldn’t take this particular opportunity to ask for more money,” said PC Gamer’s Tyler Colp earlier this week when the $15 charge was announced.
For my part, I think Tyler’s probably right on the money. The people who started playing Overwatch enjoy the game because it’s a departure from the fast-paced, militaristic shooters that dominated the genre they would have otherwise enjoyed. They’re attracted to the hopeful future that Overwatch sells.
Now, though? I’ll leave that to Tyler: “Now, seven years and a free-to-play sequel later, those hopeful players have become the primary targets of Overwatch 2’s live service monetization model. With paid heroes, paid battle passes, paid skins, and now a paid co-op mode, Overwatch 2’s bazaar-like user experience is seriously making me miss the days when playing Overwatch for ‘free’ simply meant ignoring loot boxes.”