Overwatch 2 Launch Today

As the servers for Overwatch prime sunset sometime around 12PM ET today, heroes old and new are now looking forward to when we can officially welcome Overwatch 2. Depending on where you are in the world, your Overwatch 2 launch time may vary from the 12PM PT / 3PM ET start time.

 

London and Paris will get their game late on October 4th, while Seoul and Sydney will get access early on October 5th. If you’re an Overwatch prime player or purchased an Overwatch 2 Watchpoint Pack, you have the ability to preload Overwatch 2 on your PC right now. Unfortunately, console players will have to wait until 9AM PT on October 4th for that privilege. Developers, Overwatch League pros, and Overwatch prime diehards took the opportunity of the game’s official end to reminisce about the last six years of Overwatch history. If you’re a fan of OG competitive Overwatch, a group of old Apex tournament pros featuring Geguri, Jjonak, Bumper, Fury, Slime, and more, streamed one final 6v6 match on the soon-to-be-defunct assault map Horizon Lunar Colony. (Playing the dreaded GOATS composition no less!) Fans also posted clips of their favorite in-game moments or memes commemorating the noble end to what was for a lot of people (including me) a formative gaming experience.

Overwatch 2 Free To Play Release Dates

Overwatch 2 will be launching “in early access” on October 4th, Activision Blizzard announced Sunday. At least the PVP parts of it will be. And in a major change, it will be free to play the original Overwatch was a paid title. It will be releasing on PC, Xbox Series X / S, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, and Nintendo Switch. “We can’t wait to roll out the beginning of the Overwatch 2 experience on October 4 and introduce an exciting new competitive vision, featuring amazing new content and a reimagining of the iconic heroes, maps, and gameplay that made the original game so compelling,” Mike Ybarra, president of Blizzard, said in a press release. “This is the beginning of an always-on and always-evolving era for the franchise, and a recommitment to serving players with frequent and substantial updates planned well into the future to keep Overwatch 2 fresh and fun for many years to come.”

Blizzard also introduced the second new hero for Overwatch 2, Junker Queen, which the company describes as “a high-mobility and railgun-wielding former Overwatch captain with cybernetic capabilities.” The company plans to share more about Overwatch 2 in a “reveal event” livestream that takes place in just a few days you can watch it on June 16th at 1PM ET. Blizzard first announced Overwatch 2 in 2019, but it really only began showing the game in earnest over the past few months, including with a closed beta. The company has split the development of the PVP and PVE parts of the game. While the PVP element will be available October 4, we still don’t know when the PVE portion will be available. Microsoft is set to acquire Activision Blizzard in a deal worth nearly $70 billion, though the acquisition isn’t expected to close until Microsoft’s fiscal year 2023, which begins in July.