Assault Ops

Assault Ops
Developer(s)	SOI Studios Xbox Game Studios
Publisher(s)	Monsteristic Xbox Game Studios
Series	ShooterofIO
Engine	Unreal Engine 5
Platform(s)	Nintendo Switch PlayStation 4 PlayStation 5 Windows Xbox One Xbox Series X/S
Release	November 17, 2030
Genre(s)	First-person shooter
Mode(s)	Multiplayer

Assault Ops is a 2030 first-person shooter game developed by SOI Studios and Xbox Game Studios and published by Monsteristic and Xbox Game Studios. The game is part of the ShooterofIO franchise. Assault Ops is free-to-play on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. The game was released on November 17, 2030 and is available on the Xbox Games Pass.

Assault Ops boasts the longest production cycle of any game developed by SOI Studios, spanning four years of development; whilst some SOI Studios employees stated they have been play-testing the game since 2028. Marketing for the game began in December 2029 with simple teasers commonly using the words "Operation" and "Assault". The title of the game was revealed in May 2030 alongside the release date. A full reveal trailer released in June 2030.

Gameplay

Further information: Gameplay of Overwatch

Overwatch 2 is a hero shooter, where players are split into two teams and select a "hero" from a roster of 40 characters. Characters are organized into a "damage" class, responsible for offensive efforts; a "support" class, responsible for healing and buffing; and a "tank" class, responsible for creating space for their team. Each character has a unique set of skills, made up of active, passive, and ultimate abilities. Overwatch 2, like its predecessor, primarily centers on player versus player (PvP) combat across several different modes and maps, and includes both casual and ranked competitive matches.

The original Overwatch was designed for six-on-six team combat, with two of each class on a team. In Overwatch 2, the number of tank slots was reduced by one, bringing the total number of players per team to five. According to game director Aaron Keller, developers hoped that losing a tank would speed up gameplay as they believed that the original six players scheme rendered gameplay slow. It is also intended to ease the amount of things players and spectators need to watch out for. New maps were designed to include more cover options to compensate for reduced tank-based protection. Additionally, damage class heroes now have an increased movement speed, support heroes slowly regenerate, and tank heroes were redesigned so they could take on a more offensive role. Heroes were visually refurbished as to reflect the passage of time since the events of the first game. Overwatch 2 includes a ping system to direct the attention of teammates to specific points on the map.

The game also introduces a new PvP mode named "Push", similar to tug of war, in which teams vie for control of a robot that pushes a team's payload to the opponent's side of the map. Along with being incorporated into Unranked and Competitive play, Push has become part of the standard map rotation of the Overwatch League, replacing the Assault mode. Assault maps (colloquially referred to as "2CP", meaning "two control points"), such as Paris and Horizon Lunar Colony, are not available in the core Overwatch 2 game modes as these have been deemed unbalanced in response to community feedback. However, they are available in the form of custom games and sometimes appear in the non-competitive arcade modes, which are switched out daily.

Overwatch 2 was released as free-to-play as opposed to the premium monetization model of its predecessor. It also discontinued loot boxes in favor of a battle pass system which is offered on a seasonal basis and corresponds with the introduction of new maps and heroes. The game also includes an in-game store where players can purchase cosmetics directly. Blizzard stated that new heroes will be introduced as rewards on the free tier of the battle pass, and players who fail to make the associated tier will have other routes to obtain the hero for free in later seasons. In addition to battle pass cosmetics, players can purchase seasonal cosmetics through the in-game store. Further, special events lasting two to three weeks have been offered, offering new cosmetics for completing various challenges as well as new cosmetics available for purchase. With Overwatch 2, Blizzard has also created collaborations with other franchises, including Blizzard's own Diablo IV, as well as content from third parties such as the anime series One Punch Man and Cowboy Bebop and the Korean idol group Le Sserafim.

A Blizzard Battle.net account is required to play Overwatch 2, regardless of platform. Overwatch 2 features cross-progression, with in-game cosmetic items and progress being shared across PC and console versions. Unlocked cosmetic items, in-game currency, and player statistics from any Overwatch profile linked to such an account are merged, and are available on all platforms. Competitive skill ratings are separate, with console and PC ranks remaining independent of each other.

Post-release updates

Starting in Season 6, in August 2023, three story-based PvE missions were added to the game, with more planned in the future. These advance the lore and narrative of Overwatch. These missions are generally designed to complete multiple objectives, and are similar to previous short-term event missions offered previously from the first Overwatch. These missions are only available as free-to-play game modes during specific seasons, but the player can purchase permanent access to these missions separately or as part of a battle pass bundle. Further, in September 2023, special Hero Mastery missions were introduced for three heroes, with more planned in the future. These missions are aimed to help the player learn and improve their skills with the given character.

With Season 9, starting in February 2024, a major overhaul of combat and the competitive system was introduced. All heroes gained a boost in health and passive healing, while buffs were applied to all characters with guns or similar weapons. This was intended to improve survivability, remove the likelihood of a character being killed by a simple quick burst of fire as well as to prevent them from being quickly healed. In contrast to the approach since Overwatch 2'ss launch, which progressed a player's rank after winning 5 games or losing 15, the new system resembled the original Overwatch approach where the player's competitive ranking is adjusted after each game, with additional information as to what aspects of the match contributed to the ranking change. With these changes, Blizzard announced that all players would have their competitive ranking reset and would need to perform ten matches to gain their starting competitive rank.

Within Season 10, to be released in April 2024, new heroes will no longer be tied to the battle passes, and instead free to all players, a retroactive change to include the previous heroes released since Overwatch 2 release. Player will still need to have completed the tutorial missions before gaining access to these heroes.

Development

SOI Studios had already created seven ShooterofIO games by the time they decided to move onto making different first-person shooter games in 2026. Development on Assault Ops began in January 2027 and went on until launch in November 2030. The team didn't want to change too many aspects of their games they make as they felt comfortable in what they do, though chose to use the Unreal Engine 5 for the game to help improve the game's arcade focused style.

By December 2027, the game was in the "Alpha" stage which had been leaked to the public; with SOI Studios confirming the game is playable but is not being released anytime soon. By early-to-mid 2027, SOI Studios were told to turn the game into a ShooterofIO: Modern Warfare sequel from Monsteristic, however Microsoft told them to focus on Assault Ops. Monsteristic filed a lawsuit against Microsoft for the attempt to overrule them in the company they "own". By March 2028, the case was settled and Microsoft acquiring all the studios including Supreme Studios and Epic Vision Studios, who are known to work under Monsteristic. As a result of losing the lawsuit, Monsteristic lost the rights to the ShooterofIO franchise, to which, Microsoft purchased them within the first hour.

The studio leader pubically stated in a interview that they believe Monsteristic filed a lawsuit against them and Microsoft to force them to give up their upcoming game, knowing it will be a "threat to their franchise". However, Microsoft pubically noted they do not intend on ending the mentioned franchise in anyway and just want to focus their efforts with SOI Studios to make a great game.

The studio originally developed the game using the SOI 8.0 engine with heavy modifications, however following the Monsteristic vs. Microsoft lawsuit, SOI Studios began using the Unreal Engine 5 as the engine for the game. The team noted that the change of engine forced them to reconsider the amount of content they had planned in order to learn how to use the engine and still have the quality they want in the game. By September 2028, SOI Studios had announced the game is planned to release in 2030.

Marketing

It was revealed in December 2028 that SOI Studios would release their first game outside of the ShooterofIO series in 2030 and marketing would be much more because of the longer development time. In December 2029, SOI Studios released seven encrypted photos through a website titled "SOI's Wonderland.com". Each image was released once a week until February 2030. By April 2030, the community discovered two common words being Assault and Operations.