Dota 2, Overwatch 2, and Path of Exile 2 are changing the definition of the number ‘2’

The sequel and the expansion used to be two different things, but with so many games that never ended – never ‘completed’ – this line is slowly blurring. For example, Path of Exile 2 is not a new game. It adds the campaign and upgrades the graphics and skill system of the current Path of Exile. Path of Exile 2 doesn’t have its own Steam page, just an update of the game.

Similarly, Overwatch 2 is not a standalone sequel. Overwatch 2 adds new story missions, but Blizzard doesn’t expect every Overwatch gamer to be willing to buy a new installment. To avoid dividing the community, Overwatch and Overwatch 2 PvP multiplayer modes will be updated in parallel, so that players of both seasons can play together. Then slowly, they will be merged into one game. We will have Overwatch 2, but Overwatch 1 is defunct. Or will Blizzard remove the ‘2’ after bundling and simply call the game Overwatch?

Back in the 90s, multiplayer games got a few updates after the game came out and had a few mainstream servers. Other than that, only modders and private server owners continue to develop the game. You can still play Quake online now, but the most recent stable version of iD Software, called QuakeWorld 2.30, has been out since 1998. The creator of Quake is no longer involved in servers these days.

Game patches no longer work like that. The version of Overwatch we played when it first came out may never be playable again, and that’s certainly true for most multiplayer games. Take Rainbow Six Siege as an example, if Ubisoft develops part 2, they will most likely choose to do the same thing as Overwatch.

With each automatic update, there is always something added, as well as something lost. Many Destiny 2 players probably remember the Prometheus Lens that was faulty when Bungie was first updated. It’s pretty funny, but of course the bug can’t be allowed to continue. This is one of a thousand moments that you will never experience again.

The number of updates for online games today is uncountable, and players no longer have the choice of which version they want to run, as the online game environment never waits for anyone. Unfortunately, the old times cannot be returned.

Blizzard tried to recreate the past when it launched World of Warcraft Classic and was relatively successful. However, will Blizzard later need to release another version of WoW Classic Classic to recreate this again?

Then Dota 2 updated The Outlander (patch 7.23), the biggest update ever. It feels like Dota 2 has become a completely new game compared to the previous 7.22: maps, neutral items, outposts, etc., everything that makes veteran players also have to brood a lot to get used to The Outlander. .

Path of Exile 2, Overwatch 2 or Dota 2 will end that era. The “sequels” have not dominated the past 10 years. Team Fortress 2 is still in vogue, and there will almost certainly be no Team Fortress 3. However, the sequels aren’t completely dead – we still have new titles like Assassin’s Creed and Call of Duty, etc. – but these days, more and more games are built to add ‘salt sauce’ and update forever.

There’s a thinking puzzle about The Ship of Thesus: If you build a ship, and over the next century, you gradually replace each piece of wood, part by part, until the ship no longer holds a single piece of wood. shards of source material at all, so is it still considered that ship?

Similarly, is Rainbow Six Siege the same game as it was in 2015? Or has it quietly become Rainbow Six Siege 2?

World of Warcraft is a clear example of this: Classic is radically different from modern World of Warcraf, but at the same time they are still the same, differing only in time. In the future, will Overwatch players want to go back to the old days? Overwatch Classic for example?