Surely you remember World of Warcraft: Classic, Blizzard’s attempt to attract all those players who got hooked on the game in its origins. As multiplayer games age, more and more are adopting “classic” or “original” modes that bring back the feel and balance of the game in its early days, when they achieved true success.
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Subscribe (it's FREE) ►In 2024 we are in the middle of a Fortnite season that brings the battle royale back to how it was in chapter 2, and in December, Fortnite OG will return as a dedicated mode. Meanwhile, Overwatch: Classic is running as a limited-time mode to reminisce about the good times of Blizzard’s hero shooter.
A game that embraces nostalgia may seem paradoxical, but it’s not that surprising. Just as single-player games and series evolve with each new entry, live service games like Fortnite and Overwatch grow with each new season, update, or balance change.
Players long for gaming experiences that evoke nostalgia, and by now it has been seven to eight years since the beginnings of Fortnite and Overwatch. As more live service games continue for longer periods, it is expected that this practice will become increasingly common.
As they lose players, online games embrace their origins
When it was launched in 2016, Overwatch took the world by storm. It perfected the hero shooter formula and gave Blizzard its first breath of fresh air in decades.
Overwatch also jumped on the live service trend as it gained momentum and became the golden goose that all AAA game companies tried to chase. The game evolved over time with new heroes, maps, modes, and mechanics, but there was something truly magical about the early days of Overwatch.
For its part, Fortnite took advantage of the popularity of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds in 2017 with an experimental battle royale mode. Although initially it was a secondary mode with low expectations, Fortnite: Battle Royale revolutionized the gaming industry and became a trendsetter, everyone wanted to be Fortnite. Both Overwatch and Fortnite have drastically evolved from their humble beginnings.
We have seen how the support for Overwatch slowed down until it disappeared, the creation and collapse of the Overwatch League, and its disappointing transition to Overwatch 2.
We have seen multiple chapters of Fortnite with unique maps, modes, mechanics, and outfits, in addition to the expansion of Fortnite as a hub for other games. Although you may have had the same game client installed on your PC for years, there’s no denying that the version of Overwatch or Fortnite you launch today is very different from the one we launched in 2017. This creates a feeling of nostalgia for the early days of these titles that can be leveraged to obtain content.
Nostalgia is a trap, as it tries to take us back to a time already past, but it works
Part of the appeal of live service games is their constantly evolving nature. Players have reasons to return to the game day after day and may find drastic changes or content additions when they log in. This maintains balance and freshness, and creates distinct eras in the games that people remember fondly.
Those memories foster nostalgia, and catering to that nostalgia is a smart way for a developer looking for ways to regain goodwill or bring players back.
For a game like Overwatch 2, with many controversial changes, something like Overwatch: Classic is a safe bet with a proven track record of success.
For Epic Games, Fortnite OG is a calculated way to highlight how Fortnite can serve as a hub for various different versions of the same game and potentially bring back people who haven’t picked up the game since 2017.
For live service games that constantly need to find new ways to bring back players who no longer play and keep current ones constantly engaged, diving back into older content is not a bad idea. There is already a proven history of content returning and being embraced by fans. Reintroducing that content can be a more significant announcement for old players than a new season, and these limited-time modes or shorter seasons can give developers a break while they work on new content.
Players also attend these launches. The initial launch of Fortnite OG led to the highest number of daily players in the game’s history, so it makes sense for Epic Games to revisit the concept, and for those responsible for games like Overwatch 2 to take note and respond accordingly.
But a warning to developers: nostalgia hooks for a while, be careful that your “return to the origins” is not the swan song after which your game closes.
