Blizzard has confirmed that the servers for Overwatch will be taken down on October 2, giving fans of the 2016 team-based multiplayer shooter just over two weeks to jump back into the game for its final moments. Overwatch 2, the game’s free-to-play sequel, will launch just days later on October 4.
“So roughly a day before Overwatch 2 launches, we’re going to be taking down the Overwatch 1 servers,” commercial lead Jon Spector told Eurogamer in a new interview. “So that means, as a practical point, that October 2nd really is the last day to go in and play Overwatch 1. And then it’s a 27-hour downtime that we’re planning in order to get the Overwatch 2 server stood up and running.”
“We’ll give current Overwatch players the ability to download Overwatch 2 a little bit ahead of when we launch, if they want to pre-download,” Spector added. “There’s also a couple of things that we’ll be asking players to do, to get ready for Overwatch 2. We’ll share a kind of launch checklist with players ahead of things so that they have a smooth experience getting in on 4th October, when we launch.”
“So it’s basically 2nd October, Overwatch 1 has its last day; we’re down for 27 hours to give our team the ability to update all the servers to make sure that the backend supporting the launch of Overwatch 2 is ready to go; and then players can come in on 4th October. And if they already have Overwatch 1, they’ll get Overwatch 2 as basically an update from a systems perspective. You’ll see, ‘Update the game to Overwatch 2‘ as an option on your PC or console. If you’re a new player, you’ll see on 4th October, the ability to come in and download and play Overwatch 2 for free.”
Blizzard revealed that Overwatch 2 would be launching as a free-to-play live experience in June 2022. Players can expect seasonal updates on a regular cadence, as well as a Battle Pass that will feature new heroes, game modes, maps, cosmetics, and more. There will be no Loot Boxes in Overwatch 2.