Patch of Theseus
When is a game no longer the same game?
Overwatch is dead. something else has its place - Overwatch 2. Originally announced as the next stage of the franchise and definitely not to distract from controversy, OW 2 has been a study in existential dread for me. In addition to questionable reworks and a full team slot being cut, OW 2 is completely overwriting the original Overwatch. In fact, as of this writing, you can't even log in to give the game its last hurrah. Sorry for not warning you sooner. My weekends get busy.
The decision by Activision Blizzard to completely overwrite Overwatch has led some to the reasonable conclusion that Overwatch 2 is not a sequel at all but just a massive patch. That's debatable for sure, since there are big changes, but Nintendo didn't take Splatoon 2 away when 3 dropped, did they?
Either way, the way Overwatch 2 is being delivered sure feels like a patch on paper-because it is going to completely overwrite the original Overwatch. While I'm notoriously not a big online game fan, Overwatch clicked for one in a pretty unique way. Overwatch didn't play as skill testing as its contemporaries and had a light-hearted tone to their designs. Despite my lack of devotion to these games, I fired Overwatch up over the years regularly and generally walked away satisfied. I bought the occasional merch. I kept an eye on the League. I even overrode my own morals and put the game in my game of the year ballot for the first year it was out in spite of the loot boxes. Hell, it literally was the first game I wrote about for TheYoungFolks.com.
I just can't see myself feeling the same about Overwatch 2. The changes are just too alienating for me. On the surface, that would be fine, but again, they're basically pushing OW 2 as a patch for the original. According to Blizzard, Overwatch 2 is also just Overwatch now.
This reality has made me consider the impermanence of this medium in a way I haven't before. It's easy for me to be irritated with the change to Overwatch 2 because it doesn't feel appealing, but Overwatch had plenty of changes over its six years. The roster grew while the existing cast changed, some to the point of barely resembling how they were at the game's launch. Such is the nature of live service games, but also is completely normal in games not requiring a network connection. This isn't a lament, really. Getting a video game to ship is itself a miracle, one more attainable with the acknowledgement that errors might slip through and need addressing. The ability to revisit has other advantages, such addressing a game's balance, adding features for access ability, or taking out extremely tasteless content. These are legitimate and valid needs that shouldn't be discounted.
That said, with every patch, the version that came before effectively ceases to be. Sometimes, most of the time really, this is for the best. Even so, there is some form of something left behind. Risking being cringe and referencing this post's title inspiration, is there a point where a game stops being what it was and instead becomes something else?
Is Cyberpunk 2077, a game that launched in a state so bad a major platform stopped selling it, truly the same game now that it mostly works on the platforms CDPR actually cared about releasing on? Should Pokémon Go be remembered for the one summer everyone played it and it barely had features? Is the XIII remake objectively better because it's new? Does Horizon Zero Dawn already need a remake?
The best case study for this is easily the game I spent the last weekend Overwatch existed actually playing: Final Fantasy XIV. FFXIV famously was nuked from orbit after a massively poor reception. The XIV that replaced it was rebuilt from the ground up and eventually became a refuge from Activision Blizzard for some, but even then that took dedicated effort into changing and evolving the game. Even now, the team is working backward to streamline and modify the content that already successfully brought in its huge audience. For that game, being willing to overwrite everything was the key to success.
Yet, even that game left something behind. Constantly through the story, characters think back to characters and events that predate the relaunch, content that can no longer be accessed. Despite being unable to play that part, knowing it existed and acknowledging it strengthens the content that is playable. What's more, the first block of the game's credits is ungodly long due to listing every player who stuck the original out as a tribute.
On the flip side, Overwatch 2's arrival comes with much less of a sense of respect. Sure Blizzard isn't going to make existing players re-unlock the roster; but it's not hard to feel the entire release of this title is less about need or even desire as much as desperation. Desperation to show players and shareholders that the company is still finding time to deliver games in between harassing1 and denying raises to employees.2
Like many philosophical arguments, the point of The Ship of Theseus is that there isn't a clear answer. While replacing every piece of a ship would indeed technically make it something new, that does not inherently change anything else. If the ship's name is still Theseus, then it's still a ship of Theseus. On the other hand, if that ship doesn't even have pieces changed but gets a new captain, is it the same ship? Hasn't something changed underneath?
Somewhere in the middle of all that fart sniffing is where my feelings about Overwatch 2 truly sit. While erasing the original game doesn't even come close to the top 100 shitty things Activision Blizzard has done, it still feels shitty. I can't look at this weird roll out and not feel skeptical about the intent behind it. Generally, patches and updates exist for the goal of improvement or refinement, and this doesn't feel like that at all. But, this is Overwatch now, whether I like it or not. Something changed and nothing at all did at the same time. The ship doesn't feel safe to sail on anymore.
The Warp Zone is a feature I want to add to share things that have captured my attention at the time I was also making whatever you just read. If you liked that, why not try something from this selection to keep going?
This first instance of the Warp Zone is more like the Nepotism Zone, because I want to feature some work from my friends (oh my god I hope they don’t think I’m being weird by calling them friends):
The editor in chief of The Young Folks Allyson Johnson has started her own newsletter, which is naturally better than this one. I recommend all of it, but in particular this piece reminding us all that Promare fucks:
Another TYF colleague who is also better at their job than me, Nguyên Lê, has a review of The Greatest Beer Run Ever with a perspective that should be at the forefront of the talk about the film but probably wont be over at The Spool: https://thespool.net/reviews/movies/the-greatest-beer-run-ever-pops-open-sour-suds/
Finally, Jennifer C. Martin has two pieces in Insider talking about her faith and polyamory, which doesn’t conflict, actually:
https://www.insider.com/im-polyamorous-and-christian-both-sides-matter-to-me-2022-9
https://www.insider.com/how-my-husband-and-i-date-while-polyamorous-as-parents-2022-10
Also, someone give her a writing job, please!
https://kotaku.com/everything-that-has-happened-since-the-activision-blizz-1847401161
https://www.eurogamer.net/activision-blizzard-withheld-raises-from-union-campaigners-nlrb-finds