Overwatch 2 Won’t Be Available For Many Users
Overwatch 2 is finally on its way, but when it comes out it won't be available for just anyone to play. Check out who might be left out.
Activision Blizzard recently revealed its plans to start Overwatch 2 closed beta testing in April this year. Of course, the company tried opening to door to new sign-ups, but its registration page for the closed beta testing crashed immediately under the strenuous traffic. So, Blizzard has opted to conclude its alpha testing, which is currently underway, and invite the original Overwatch players via an email. Overwatch 2 beta’s release date, April 26, has been officially confirmed during a developer live stream.
However, the highly anticipated beta will release for PC gamers only, according to GamesRadar+, with Blizzard’s development team looking to include console players as soon as possible. This announcement broke the silence surrounding the development of Overwatch 2, which was sidelined amidst all the scandals and lawsuits and Microsoft’s freshly announced acquisition of Activision Blizzard. The development team has been tight-lipped about the development process, but considering they’re moving to beta testing, it’s quite possible to hear more about Overwatch 2.
And no, this isn’t Microsoft breaking their promise to PlayStation gamers; Blizzard has announced that console versions of the game are still in their alpha testing stages, though a release date for console releases wasn’t specified. Considering that the sign-up page crashed, the participants of the upcoming PC beta will be selected based on their region and the specs of their gaming systems, with invites sent via mail. Of course, they also need to own a copy of the original Overwatch to participate.
Blizzard revealed its plans to expand the testing group once the dev team knows that Overwatch 2’s matchmaking is stable. The gaming giant also disclosed the upcoming game’s minimum and recommended system requirements for participation, which have risen slightly from the listed specs of the original game. In other words, the recommended specs for Overwatch are now much closer to the minimum listed specs for the Overwatch 2 beta. This includes Nvidia GeForce GTX 600 series or AMD Radeon HG 7000 GPUs and 6GB of RAM to run the game at 30fps, at minimum preset.
Running the game at 60fps on medium preset requires a much stronger Core i7 or Ryzen 5, a GTX 1060 or AMD R9 380 GPUs, and north of 8GB of RAM. Of course, these specifications aren’t final. These might actually go down depending on the current state of in-game graphics and Overwatch 2’s final build’s optimization. Other than hardware requirements, developers also discussed the 5v5 matchmaking instead of the previous 6v6. Another interesting feature is the new “ping” system, allowing players to communicate action and convey information via their character’s voice lines. Not revolutionary, but still very useful — World of Warcraft players have been using it for years.
The upcoming Overwatch 2 is clearly set to challenge the game’s original formula, decrease the number of teammates, rework heroes, and add new maps. According to lead creatives at Blizzard, Overwatch 2 is set to become a faster-paced game than its predecessor, with more space that would allow players to move and avoid potential choke points within the game’s map.
