After three messy years, February 2026 marks the end of Overwatch 2, which is set to call itself simply “Overwatch” going forward.
While some are preparing for the exciting renewal of one of the best hero shooters out there, others quickly realized that Blizzard’s beloved title seems to be another game that is said by the famous curse of Persona 5, after the high-profile crossover event.
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In case you missed it: In September 2025, Blizzard dropped the partnership with Persona 5, giving six heroes skins in the form of the main characters of the JRPG, the Phantom Thieves. Now, only six months later, the Overwatch devs have announced a major update set to deliver a clean slate for the title. Kicking off the new season of “Reign of the Talon”, Blizzard has shared a stunning new cinematic featuring new playable character Vendetta taking on longtime rival Doomfist. Game Director Aaron Keller will also lay out the game’s roadmap for 2026, revealing a wealth of new heroes and other additions.
This update brought a lot of hope to the game, drawing new and old players to come back and score points in Lijian Tower. Earlier in February 2026, GameRant reported that Overwatch reached the highest number of players of all time, surpassing Battlefield 6 and Call of Duty on Steam. However, with the update successfully removing Overwatch 2 (the challenging Esport that it is), fans say the game has technically fulfilled the Persona 5 curse, adding another live-action title to its list of victims.
What is the curse of Persona 5?
There aren’t many sports myths out there. However, the curse called Persona 5 has claimed so many victims at this point that it’s almost too hard to ignore.
This is the unfortunate situation that the fans saw there, after the game partners with the Persona 5 IP in some way, it will suddenly shut down or enter an “End of Service” period within a few years.
Star Ocean Amnesis will be the first victim of the curse. The gacha game announced a collaboration with the JRPG on October 19, 2019, and was closed in June 2021. Sword Art Online: Memory Defrag, as we reported at the time, then collaborated with Persona 5 on February 17, 2020. It would meet the same fate a few months later, shutting down the servers, gachast20 August 20, August 30, game 20 announced its partnership with Persona 5 on January 31, 2021, and closed permanently in November 2022. Nier Reincarnation and Persona 5 will share a crossover on September 9, 2022, with the former closing on April 30, 2024.
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With this series of live service titles suddenly shut down just moments after their in-game events, Persona 5 fans will start jokingly saying that the franchise has been ruined.
Now, not all live service games have had Persona 5 interactions locked down. Granblue Fantasy is still developing eight years after its in-game event, so a curse does not always have a 100 percent success rate. Not to mention Atlus’ own live-action game, Persona 5: Phantom X, which was released only last year and is still doing very well.
However, with a variety of examples to point to, the gaming community has rallied around this myth.
Why Are People Saying Overwatch 2 Was Hit by the Persona 5 Curse?
While Overwatch is here to stay, dropping the “2” in its name led social media to interpret the remake as a form of “death.”
As noted, September 2025, Overwatch marked its seventh title collaboration to date. The release would see heroes Mercy, D.Va, Lifeweaver, Genji and the newly released Wuyang get skins in the style of Phantom Thieves. Heroes will also get new “gameplay” animations and icons like the Phantom Thieves “everything” attack, which, for a fan of both franchises, was a joy to see.
It is largely representative of the ongoing difficulty live service games have in maintaining a steady flow of revenue to justify keeping it going.
Admittedly, the collaboration was very impressive and once again showcased the Overwatch team’s strong skin design, tempting some to want to drop $69 to pick up the whole bunch.
It is also important to note here that the curse is not related to the level of quality of the event or the game, really. Instead, it is more representative of the ongoing difficulty that live service games have in maintaining a stable flow of revenue to justify keeping it going.
There is also an element of schadenfreude in this meme. Given the negative reception the Overwatch franchise received when it dropped its infamous “Overwatch 2” update in 2022, players were less than impressed with Blizzard’s approach to the game.
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Overwatch 2 brought several map and skin changes, a controversial UI overhaul, a redesign of the beloved characters and worst of all, a new monetization system that removed loot boxes in favor of its combat. The update will also make 5v5 its base mode, in an attempt to shake up the game and get rid of its infamous GOATS meta.
Another key piece of content that was teased was the much-anticipated PvE story mode, which was set to advance Overwatch’s story beyond its cinematics and hero releases.
However, two years after the release of Overwatch 2, the mode will be officially canceled before Microsoft’s acquisition of Blizzard.
Fans celebrating the revival of Overwatch 2 and the success of Curse of Persona 5 here The widespread joy is that Blizzard is listening to its fans and is actively working to fix some of its most unpopular design choices in favor of a better player experience.
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In fact, this is all very absurd.
As shown by the recent increase in players in the news of the remake, it is clear that there is plenty of life left in the franchise to continue for years to come. To say that, Persona 5’s curse makes for an interesting bookend to the overall legacy of Overwatch 2, which has been mired in controversy and negative player feedback throughout its lifecycle.
Here’s hoping that the new update can right the ship and, if Blizzard chooses to make another Persona organization to finish off the remaining Phantom Thieves, it won’t be a victim of the curse again a year from now. It has to stay ahead of the likes of Marvel Rivals, after all.
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Overwatch (Formerly Overwatch 2)
- Released
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August 10, 2023
- The ESRB
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Youth / Violence, Blood, Mild Language, Tobacco Use, User Interaction, In-Game Purchases (Includes Random Items)
- Engineer(s).
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A blizzard
- Publisher
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A blizzard
