Overwatch 2 To Receive A Hugely Popular Function
Overwatch 2 is about to get a pretty big upgrade, even as it recently lost one of its most controversial features.
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The original 2016’s Overwatch, which is losing one of its most controversial elements ahead of the game’s closure, didn’t actually feature any type of cross-progression. Instead, cross-play PVP between various platforms was enabled within the game, with a notable exception for competitive gameplay, which was still split between consoles and the PC. Now, Blizzard announced that the sequel, the upcoming Overwatch 2, won’t feature just cross-play mode but cross-progression as well.
According to IGN, Blizzard’s upcoming hero shooter, Overwatch 2, will include both cross-play and cross-progression across all supported platforms. The company allowed the current Overwatch players to merge their accounts across different platforms into a single account starting Tuesday, enabling gamers to carry over all progression into the new game. This means that all cosmetics, credits, and gameplay stats across different platforms will be unified and carried over to Overwatch 2 once the game replaces the original Overwatch on October 4, 2022.
In their extensive FAQ, Activision Blizzard explains the entire process of merging multiple Overwatch accounts. For starters, Overwatch 2 will require all players to have a Battle.net account, even on consoles, and the player’s stats will be stored on their Battle.net account, allowing Overwatch 2 to share cosmetics, unlocks, and states will all devices linked by the same account. As for player states, Blizzard stated that OverwatchLeague tokens, achievements, and competitive and skill ratings would be added up or displayed as the highest number associated with a particular stat.
However, there are certain limitations when it comes to account merging. The biggest one concerns the number of linked accounts; players can only merge one account per platform, limiting players with multiple accounts on PC or consoles from merging everything. Instead, gamers will have to choose which one to merge with the unified Overwatch 2 Battle.net account. The second limitation pertains to Overwatch League tokens bought on Nintendo Switch. These won’t transfer and merge with the unified account and will remain exclusively on said platform.
Blizzard’s decision to allow cross-progression under a unified Battle.net account isn’t exactly a novelty for the company. The gaming giant has been using its proprietary account service and launcher across numerous releases, including Starcraft 2, Call of Duty, Diablo, and World of Warcraft — the latter of which is getting a new expansion by the year’s end. The account keeps track of your progression and purchases across all games developed and published by the company and even rewards players with in-game items for achievements and purchases made in other titles.
Merging players’ accounts for a complete Overwatch 2 experience is pretty straightforward. Players need to log into their Overwatch accounts on their consoles, follow on-screen prompts, and scan a QR code on their phones. The generated code should be used to create or link a Battle.net account, which is confirmed during the next login. Simple, but players should make sure that they’re linking the correct accounts. It’s not like Blizzard to help out with linking wrong accounts, and the company recently came under fire due to unjustified bans of high-profile gamers.
