Ex-Blizzard president reportedly wanted to reboot Overwatch and reduce Diablo 4 microtransactions, but left before either of those things happened

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It sounds like big changes could have been on the horizon

Overwatch 2
(Image credit: Blizzard Entertainment)

It's claimed that former Blizzard president Mike Ybarra wanted to bring about some massive changes to hero shooter Overwatch, as well as reduce microtransactions in action RPG Diablo 4 before his departure from the company earlier this year. 

PC Gamer reports that in Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier's new book about Blizzard, it's mentioned in the final chapter that Ybarra was planning to "reboot Overwatch," which sounds like a pretty enormous deal. It's not clear what form this might have taken – after all, Overwatch 2 has only been out for two years (less than that when Ybarra was still at Blizzard), and it straight-up replaced its predecessor. 

Attitudes about Overwatch 2 haven't always been, uh, fantastic since its launch – the hero shooter is still tarnished with a 'Mostly Negative' rating on Steam after a rough start last summer – so perhaps a reboot could have helped give it a fresh start?

Then there's Diablo 4, and Ybarra's supposed old plans to "cut down" on its microtransactions. It's fair to say that the action RPG has had its fair share of microtransaction-related controversy since its launch, mainly revolving around just how expensive some of them are. Back in February, players criticized the arrival of a $30 bundle which, as well as including $10-worth of Platinum (in-game currency), offered a selection of portal recolors. That's a lot of money for some fresh colors, and although this came after Ybarra had already left the company, perhaps it was these sorts of things he apparently wanted to change?

Former Blizzard president wants to be able to leave a "tip" after completing $70 games: "I wish I could give these folks another $10 or $20."

Catherine Lewis
Catherine Lewis
Deputy News Editor

I'm GamesRadar+'s Deputy News Editor, working alongside the rest of the news team to deliver cool gaming stories that we love. After spending more hours than I can count filling The University of Sheffield's student newspaper with Pokemon and indie game content, and picking up a degree in Journalism Studies, I started my career at GAMINGbible where I worked as a journalist for over a year and a half. I then became TechRadar Gaming's news writer, where I sourced stories and wrote about all sorts of intriguing topics. In my spare time, you're sure to find me on my Nintendo Switch or PS5 playing through story-driven RPGs like Xenoblade Chronicles and Persona 5 Royal, nuzlocking old Pokemon games, or going for a Victory Royale in Fortnite.