Jason Schreier’s original article is here
For those who encounter a paywall, an archived version is here
The important bit in his article:
Last year, Overwatch 2 received a paid pack of three PvE story missions that sold poorly, according to people familiar with the business, which was a major reason for the cratering bonuses. In January, as part of a company-wide reduction in its work force, the majority of the team behind Overwatch 2’s PvE was laid off.
Overwatch 2 developers were informed that the company does not plan to finish any of the remaining planned PvE content and will instead double down on competitive player vs. player gameplay, according to the people familiar.
OW1 was so much better, and I can guarantee they would’ve made more money from that model over OW2’s BS. The change to 5v5 unbalanced the entire game and required significant map changes.
It boils down to greed; some MBAs in the company were absolutely convinced that they’d make more money from this new model. Their greed sunk the whole game. Classic Blizzard.