According to Keller, the ambition for hero missions consumed resources that should have been dedicated to the core gameplay. “We had an exciting but gargantuan vision, and we were continuously pulling resources away from the live game in an attempt to realize it,” he explained. “I can’t help but look back on our original ambitions for Overwatch and feel like we used the slogan of ‘crawl, walk, run’ to continue to march forward with a strategy that just wasn’t working.”
The decision to abandon hero missions was a difficult one, made in favor of prioritizing the present quality of the game over past promises. Keller expressed the team’s understanding of the disappointment this decision may have caused. “We needed to make an incredibly difficult decision, one we knew would disappoint our players, the team, and everyone looking forward to Hero Missions,” he said. “The Overwatch team understands this deeply — this represented years of work and emotional investment. They are wonderful, incredibly talented people and truly have a passion for our game and the work that they do.”
