Blizzard brought Overwatch 2 online last night as planned, but what didn’t go quite as plan was the technical mess that plagued the team shooter almost immediately.
Blizzard’s Mike Ybarra was on Twitter about 90 minutes after the game officially launched, admitting that the game was “experiencing a mass DDOS attack on [the] servers,” leading to “a lot of drop/connection issues.” Early this morning, the attacks apparently continued, though it sounds like the stability problems weren’t entirely the fault of the DDOS.
“We’re steadily making progress on server issues and stability, as well as working through a second DDoS attack,” Aaron Keller told fans overnight. “We’re all hands on deck and will continue to work throughout the night. Thank you for your patience – we’ll share more info as it becomes available.”
Patience is in short demand right now, as the game’s subreddits are mostly memeing meltdowns and complaining about missing items and borked console linking.
As I type this, the last bluename post on the official forums came around five hours ago, when community boss Andy Benditt said he had no further info to share and that staff were “still working on the issue.”
In any case, the game is technically live, having buried its predecessor on Monday.
“Overwatch 2 launches today with an all-new item shop replacing the previous Loot Box system, a free Battle Pass for all players, and a purchasable Premium Battle Pass for each season. Both versions of the Battle Pass deliver a slew of features for players to enhance their Overwatch 2 experience and will add new heroes at periodic intervals after the first two seasons. The Premium Battle Pass, which provides instant access when new heroes are added in addition to other benefits, is priced at 1,000 Overwatch Coins per season (equivalent of $10 USD), unlocking in-game skins and other content. All players will have the ability to earn Overwatch Coins at no cost through in-game challenges each season, which can be saved up and used to purchase a Premium Battle Pass or other items available in the shop. Season One, now live, features cyber punk-themed items for both the free and paid Battle Pass tracks: skins, emotes, victory poses, highlight intros, player icons, weapon charms, sprays, voice lines, and more. The Season One Premium Battle Pass includes the first ever Mythic skin—a customizable skin tier new for Overwatch 2—for Genji. Season Two will feature a new to-be-announced tank hero and new map. Seasons are planned to roll over every nine weeks, each complete with a unique theme and brand-new collectibles with which players can customize and personalize their Overwatch 2 experience.”
If you’re wondering about the PvE mode that was initially promised as a core component and then plucked out, well, Blizzard says development on it is currently ongoing; it’s “expected to begin rolling out next year” with “release plans [to] be announced at a later date.”
