It’s been two years since Overwatch 2’s first and only set of campaign missions launched. The story missions were meant to finally move the hero shooter’s narrative forward after it had spent years progressing at a glacial pace through animated shorts, comics, and other extended media. Since then, Blizzard has reportedly abandoned the project that was once a pillar of the sequel’s development after poor sales and some internal development struggles. In the years since, Overwatch 2’s story has been mostly told in new hero introductions and short stories, but we’ve gotten nothing that has moved things forward from the cliffhanger ending of those first campaign missions. Until today, that is.
Blizzard released a new digital comic titled Reconciliation, which stars the Omnic radical Ramattra. Widowmaker and Sombra, members of the chaos-inciting Talon organization, deliver Zenyatta, another Omnic hero who doesn’t agree with Ramattra’s subjugation of their synthetic brethren, to the Null Sector leader so they can have a chat about the state of the Overwatch world. Their ideals clash as they often do, as these are basically the Professor X and Magneto of the Overwatch universe, but the two part ways hoping that one day they will see eye to eye again. Overall, not much happens, but this does finally pick up where the story missions left off two years ago. The final scene in the last mission shows Sombra and Widowmaker approaching Zenyatta, presumably in order to take him hostage. Now, we know they were taking him to Ramattra.
It’s worth noting that this might not have been the original plan. Footage from the scrapped campaign that Blizzard showed at Blizzcon 2021 included a scene of Zenyatta and Genji fighting against Widowmaker and Sombra, and what looks like it would have been a cooperative level featuring the duo, Winston, and Pharah. But if those missions are no longer going to see the light of day, it’s likely Blizzard has altered parts of the story to make them work for a different medium. It’s much simpler for Ramattra to simply let Zenyatta go in a comic, rather than have him be rescued by Genji and co.
Overwatch 2 may not be getting a story mode, but the hero shooter is probably in the best state it’s been in since the sequel launched in 2022. Its Stadium mode and Perks update have added new layers to the game and a lot more player expression.
