After seemingly endless speculation, Overwatch 2 was announced at BlizzCon 2019 and it's now one of the most hotly-anticipated games around.
The sequel to Blizzard’s team-based shooter was revealed by creative director Jeff Kaplan at the annual extravaganza, accompanied by an emotional cinematic trailer (which you can find below).
With new PvP modes, new maps, cosmetic items and characters, Overwatch 2 seems set to push the series forwards and Jeff Kaplan has said he wants the game to be a "true sequel". Even more excitingly, we can expect the addition of story and hero missions which will allow for “highly-repayable” cooperative play with up to five friends – a first for the Overwatch series and likely to bring a feeling of freshness to proceedings.
We don’t know exactly when Overwatch 2 will release—though 2021 seems to be off the cards—but we’re hoping that 2021 will at least be the year we found out a lot more about the game. In the meantime we’ve gathered together everything we know about Overwatch 2 so far below for your perusal.
[Update: Overwatch 2 was present at BlizzCon 2021. Read on to find out more about what was revealed during its behind the scenes video.]
Cut to the chase
- What is it? The sequel to Blizzard's team-based shooter
- When is it out? TBC but likely to be 2022 at the earliest
- What can I play it on? Probably PC, Nintendo Switch, PS4 and Xbox One (PS5 and Xbox Series X versions also seem inevitable).
Overwatch 2 release date
Blizzard officially unveiled Overwatch 2 at BlizzCon 2019. Apparently the sequel is still in early development and Blizzard doesn't know exactly when it will release, though it's looking like it'll be 2022 at the earliest.
In a February 2021 financial call Activision Blizzard CFO, Dennis Durkin, said the company’s outlook "does not include" Overwatch 2 releasing in 2021.
Raising hopes that 2022 will be the year, in the same call COO, Daniel Alegre, said that “The pipeline is progressing really well, and we anticipate that 2022 will be a great year for Blizzard.” Even more promisingly, Blizzard’s Jay Allen Brack said that a “major internal milestone” had been passed in the development of Overwatch 2 in November.
When asked about the game's release during the Overwatch 2 reveal panel, creative director Jeff Kaplan said, "I don't know. I have no idea. Like, just let us make it great, that's what we care about more than anything. We don't have a date in mind."
In December 2020 Kaplan added in an update that the team is working "extremely hard" but there's still "a ways to go" in terms of the game's development. Expanding on this during a behind the scenes video during BlizzCon 2021, Kaplan and his team said that they “need some more time till we can say it’s perfectly polished in the way that we want it", adding that “in order to make a game great it takes time, energy, collaboration…Our goal is for Overwatch 2 to be the worthy successor to the first game, to be the next evolution and to be a true sequel.”
Overwatch 2 trailers
During BlizzCon 2021, there was no new Overwatch 2 trailer but a behind the scenes video did contain some glimpses into the progress on the game, with looks at new maps and in-progress gameplay. You can watch the video for yourself below:
Overwatch 2 was officially revealed by Jeff Kaplan at BlizzCon 2019, alongside an eight-minute cinematic trailer titled "Zero Hour".
Check it out below (but have some tissues at the ready):
During BlizzCon 2019, Blizzard also dropped a three-minute gameplay trailer for Overwatch 2 which showcases the sequel's new look.
Watch it below:
Overwatch 2 news, rumors and confirmed features
We've gathered together all the news and rumors surrounding Overwatch 2 below, alongside the confirmed features so far:
BlizzCon 2021
BlizzCon may not have brought us a release date for Overwatch 2, but a 40-minute behind the scenes video certainly gave an insight into the improvements and additions the game’s development team is looking to make. It also offered an insight into why we might have to wait a little big longer for the game’s release date.
Game director Jeff Kaplan and other members of the development team said that while “right now, we can sit down and have a night of Overwatch 2 and have it be a really fun experience” they “need some more time till we can say it’s perfectly polished in the way that we want it.” Kaplan himself said that “in order to make a game great it takes time, energy, collaboration…Our goal is for Overwatch 2 to be the worthy successor to the first game, to be the next evolution and to be a true sequel.”
Over the course of the 40 minute video, the development team touched on the things that they’re developing and improving in the game, from its PvP, Hero Missions and Hero Progression to the Campaign and the appearance of existing characters.
Two new maps were revealed during the video: New York and Rome. Both maps have completely different looks, with Rome leaning into Romance and ancient architecture while New York puts a sci-fi spin on Art Deco.
As far as PvP is concerned, it seems that the development team isn’t afraid to experiment with it for Overwatch 2 with the intention of making something that feels like a “big departure” from what’s currently there. Tank characters, for example, are being re-evaluated in a way that will make them “toe-to-toe brawlers” rather than protectors. And it seems that no mode is safe, as Kaplan suggested that some modes could be replaced for new ones.
When it comes to the new Hero Missions, every existing map will apparently be usable, with mentions of brand new areas in some specifically for the Hero Missions. We should expect dynamic weather and different times of day as well as different objective types.
Since 2019, the team has been making efforts to make PvE combat more interesting, so Null Sector enemies are now more engaging to fight. Hero Progression has also developed and deepened since 2019 and every hero now has their own talent tree.
For Overwatch 2’s campaign, the story will focus on Overwatch heroes coming together to find out the who and why of a second Omnic Uprising. The aim is to have the story be “a little more integrated” into the game’s missions than before, with seamless cuts between gameplay and cinematic cutscenes, as well as developing character relationships and branching dialogue. Each story mission is going to have its own “gigantic” custom map, and some of those shown include India, Gothenburg and Toronto.
We also got a look at the new hero Sojourn, initially revealed alongside the game. Sojourn is going to carry a railgun and is apparently a play-tester favorite, though good aim is required to make the most of her. In the spirit of leaving no stone unturned, even existing characters will have updates to their appearance. The video revealed four of those: Widowmaker, Phara, Reaper and McCree.
It’s hard to say that the Overwatch 2 development team was close-lipped for BlizzCon 2021 so it looks like we’ll just have to wait a little bit longer for that release date.
No 2021 release date
Activision Blizzard has confirmed that it doesn’t expect Overwatch 2 to launch in 2021. This comes from Activision Blizzard’s CFO, Dennis Durkin, who, speaking during a financial call in February 2021, said the company’s outlook doesn’t involve Overwatch 2 or Diablo 4 releasing in 2021.
According to Durkin, the company expects “Blizzard’s net bookings to grow given the momentum in World of Warcraft and the other growth initiatives we have in the business,” but added, “Our outlook does not include Diablo 4 or Overwatch 2 launching in 2021. And while Diablo Immortal is progressing well, and we anticipate its launch later this year we don’t have any material contribution from the title in our outlook presently.”
It’s possible that while 2021 isn’t on the cards for Overwatch 2, 2022 is, as in the same call, COO, Daniel Alegre said that “The pipeline is progressing really well, and we anticipate that 2022 will be a great year for Blizzard.” Even more promisingly, Blizzard’s Jay Allen Brack said that a “major internal milestone” had been passed in the development of Overwatch 2 in November.
Developer update and BlizzConline
In an end-of-year developer update posted in December 2020, Overwatch 2 director, Jeff Kaplan, has confirmed that after much silence there will be an update on Overwatch 2 during BlizzCon 2021, Blizzard’s annual developer conference where announcements, trailers and previews are usually shared.
Entirely online for 2021, BlizzCon will take place between February 19 and February 20.
Kaplan also tried to manage expectations about the game in the update, saying that while the team is focused on developing Overwatch 2, it still has "a ways to go”.
This makes it seem unlikely, then, that previous rumors (via GamesRadar) that the game will be launched in February alongside Blizzcon are accurate. In 2020, prominent leaker Metro said that the game’s full release could come as soon as February 2021 but Kaplan’s cautious update suggests that won’t be the case. Metro also floated the idea that a beta could be launched around this time. This seems more likely but we won’t know for sure until BlizzCon itself.
We’ll update this page with more Overwatch 2 news from the event as it’s announced.
Larger more complex maps
Blizzard is looking to do more with co-op missions in Overwatch 2 by increasing the size of the game’s maps and populating them with a wider variety of enemies.
In a July 2020 blog post which touches on development tools and engine being used for the game, Blizzard said that “Overwatch 2’s PvE maps are larger and more complex than Overwatch maps like Retribution and Storm Rising. That doesn’t just mean more distance to cover, but also longer missions involving more kinds of foes and more elaborate encounters. Adding enemy types leads to complex ability interactions between enemies and heroes–but also between the enemies themselves,
Echo comes to Overwatch
Blizzard has announced a brand new Overwatch hero called Echo and has said that it's "very likely" going to be the last hero added to the base game before Overwatch 2.
Talking to Polygon, Jeff Kaplan said that the development team has “a number of new heroes in development. We have multiple tanks, and we have multiple supports in development. But after Echo, the team is going to be heavily focused on Overwatch 2 development.”
At the moment, though Kaplan doesn't have any release date details to give, adding that “development is going great. The team’s having tons of fun making the game, I feel like we’re starting to understand it even more.” It seems that Overwatch 2 is still a way off yet.
Michael Chu leaves Blizzard
Overwatch's lead writer Michael Chu has announced his departure from Blizzard after 20 years of working there. Chu, responsible for much of the game's lore and character back stories, posted the news to his blog and on Twitter. Chu hasn't revealed what his next steps are but has said he hopes "to continue to tell these stories and build worlds that unite people through games."
Overwatch fans, naturally, will want to know how this departure might impact the development of Overwatch 2, especially since it seems to be putting an emphasis on Story and Hero missions. According to Blizzard in a statement (via PCGamer), the game shouldn't be affected.
"We’re incredibly grateful to Michael for his contributions, and his presence at Blizzard will be missed. We’re not anticipating an impact to our plans for Overwatch 2. The game’s development is a massive collaborative effort involving talented people across multiple teams, all with a shared commitment to the values of Overwatch and the vision for Overwatch 2. We’re working hard to create an epic, story-driven experience for players, and we can’t wait to share more."
Another release date tweet
Not long after the official Twitter account for PlayStation Brazil tweeted about a 2020 release date for Overwatch 2, the official Twitter of the Overwatch League team, the Vancouver Titans, has done the same thing. Like the tweet made by PlayStation, this latest tweet has since been deleted but it's been captured by Dexerto. The tweet says "Overwatch 2 is coming out this year" before going on to express excitement about "all the new game modes".
As 2020 has come and gone, we can be sure that this and previous leaks related to a 2020 release date were wrong.
Release date leak?
The official Twitter account for PlayStation Brazil has caused some excitement amongst Overwatch fans after tweeting out that "2020 will be the year Overwatch 2 comes to PS4". The tweet has since been deleted but a screenshot has been captured by Voxel. There's been no official comment from Blizzard on the matter but it's quite possible this was a simple mistake on the part of the PlayStation Brazil Twitter team. We won't know for sure until we get an official comment; previously Jeff Kaplan has flat out said he doesn't know when the game will launch as it's still in its early stages.
Teasing another hero?
Blizzard has been fairly tight-lipped when it comes to the hero roster for Overwatch 2 but fans who tuned into Jeff Kaplan's Yule Log livestream have been left wondering if the director was teasing a new hero for the next release (via ComicBook). During the course of Kaplan's livestream, while building an Overwatch Lego set at around the 6 hour and 11 minute mark, he mentions established Overwatch character Junker Queen and threw out some questions on whether or not she's "ever going to be a hero" and what role she might take if she was one. It was far from a confirmation of anything but it's been enough in an otherwise quiet livestream to grab the attention of Overwatch fans. We imagine if Junker Queen is going to be a hero in Overwatch 2 we'll get a confirmation closer to the game's release whenever that may be.
Larger maps and more heroes
In a recent interview, Overwatch 2's assistant director, Aaron Keller, and lead writer, Michael Chu have expanded a little on the team's ambitions for PvE play. According to Keller, there are "lots of heroes" in the work for the game and that its PvE maps are "2x larger than regular Overwatch maps."
This increased scale is all in the service of telling more story in the Overwatch world and that the new co-op story missions will allow for “a more traditional way to tell a story in the Overwatch universe.”. A story which, Chu said, will have a "beginning, middle, and end".
Naturally, as stated before, PvP is still a focus for the team and progression in PvP will be "entirely separate" from PvE.
According to Keller, “we don’t want gameplay changing talents and abilities to give an unfair advantage in PvP. We’re still exploring what players can earn in PvE and building out the progression system for that. Our goal is to make a robust meaningful progression system that feeds into our Hero Missions where players can play and replay for many hours or as their main mode of play after they complete the Overwatch 2 story.”
Narrative focus
“With Overwatch 2, we’re building the cooperative, narrative-driven game experience that players have been asking for since the original—and that we’ve wanted to make for a long time,” said J. Allen Brack, president of Blizzard Entertainment. “We’re looking forward to telling the next chapter of this epic story in-game, and we’re excited to give players a whole-new kind of co-op experience built around progressing and customizing their favorite heroes – all while providing even more of everything they love about Overwatch today.”
PvP is still a focus
Despite a heavy emphasis on the new co-operative modes, Kaplan took time to dispel the myth that Overwatch 2 would lose out on the multiplayer modes that made 50 million people play the game in the first place.
In fact, according to Kaplan, a huge focus for the Overwatch 2 team is making PvP as good as it possibly can be – which includes new maps, new modes and new characters further down the line.
Cosmetic items will cross over
According to Kaplan, all the cosmetic items earned in the original Overwatch will be ported over to Overwatch 2 – a move that will help expedite the transition to the new game.
Hero missions
Hero Missions see the Overwatch team traveling the globe, defending cities against robot invasions, taking on elite Talon agents, and battling the villainous forces laying siege to the world. This "highly-replayable mode" will allow players to level up their favorite heroes and earn powerful customization options that supercharge their abilities in co-op play – such as altering Reinhardt’s Fire Strike to ignite nearby enemies or modifying Tracer’s Pulse Bomb to cause a devastating chain reaction – granting the extra edge they need against the overwhelming odds.
Overwatch and Overwatch 2 are compatible
Current Overwatch players can play alongside Overwatch 2 players in PvP multiplayer. In addition, current Overwatch players will be able to play Overwatch 2 heroes and maps.
Co-op missions
Co-operative missions see players teaming up to "stand together against an overwhelming outbreak of threats around the globe".
Overwatch 2 Play
Similar to what we seen with its predecessor, Overwatch Play carries forward existing players’ accomplishments and loot collections and features the current complete Overwatch roster, a new generation of heroes, new maps that "widen the scope of the world" and a new Push map type – plus more to be revealed.
Story missions
Story missions sees Winston, Tracer, and other members of the original Overwatch, join forces with a new generation of heroes. Players will take an active role in the Overwatch saga as a new global crisis unfolds through a series of intense, high-stakes four-player missions. As the story progresses, players will team up as different sets of heroes and fight to defend the world from the omnic forces of Null Sector, uncover the motives behind the robotic armies’ attacks, and come face-to-face with rising new threats around the globe.
New engine upgrades
Overwatch 2 introduces significant engine upgrades that support larger maps for co-op (PvE) play, as well as the wide variety of new enemies and factions that players will encounter on their missions. The game also introduces visual enhancements.
BlizzCon 2019
Overwatch 2 was officially revealed at BlizzCon 2019, alongside an eight-minute cinematic trailer. We also got a three-minute gameplay trailer which showcased the sequel's new look, alongside new hero abilities.
Overwatch 2 will feature new PvP modes, with tug-of-war Push being the staple of competitive play, as well as new maps, cosmetic items and characters, including Sojourn. While the new PVP modes are expected, new for the series is the addition of story and hero missions that allow for cooperative play – a first for the series.
- New games 2021: upcoming games on console and PC
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