Overwatch Won’t be Driven by Progression Like Diablo and World of Warcraft

Overwatch players won't be rewarded with power-ups or weapons as part of the game's progression system, Blizzard has said. 

In an interview with Eurogamer, game director Jeff Kaplan revealed that Blizzard is using the gap in the game's beta to experiment with its progression system. 

“Unlike World of Warcraft or Diablo, where the progression is one of the main motivating factors in those games, whether it be what your level is or your gear, Overwatch is different in that sense,” Kaplan explained. “We don’t want the progression system to be burdensome in the fact that it’s telling you what to do or how to play.”

Rather than rewarding players with "better guns" or "more hit points," the focus of the game's progression systems will be on "cosmetic rewards" and customisation. 

Asked about players' return on their time investment, Kaplan commented, “I think if we tune it correctly, we can tune it in a way where higher skilled players and players that are performing well can progress faster. I think that would feel pretty good for people.”

Blizzard recently said the game's heroes and maps released post-launch will be free, but the studio hasn't decided whether or not there'll be post-launch monetisation yet. 

“Right now, our biggest concern with Overwatch isn’t about how many ways in which we can monetize people, but it’s more along the lines of making sure that the game is really fun and that we get a really big audience that enjoys playing the game with each other.”

Overwatch's closed beta will return in late January following a break, the game is coming to PC, PS4, and Xbox One in Spring 2016.