Written by Toralar | Edited by Denayed

Source: Overwatch

Blizzard revealed a ton of new info on Overwatch 2 last Thursday and the hype is real. With the launch date set for October 4, the outlines for Seasons 1 and 2 have been laid out, as well as the rough roadmap for the game’s future. The biggest reveal is that OW2 is going to be free-to-play and with cross-platform progression, so you can jump into a game with friends from any platform and your progress will stay consistent across the board. 

The second most important piece of news — in my opinion, anyway — is that loot boxes are not going to be present in any form in OW2. Instead, Blizzard says, there will be a cash shop and a battle pass that players can use to get the cool stuff they’re looking for. This is a pretty huge change and it will make it way easier to get the newest cosmetics for your mains. There aren’t many details about the battle pass or cash shop yet, but players can keep their eyes peeled.

Source: Overwatch

For Season One, Blizzard is planning to release three new heroes. Two have already been revealed: Sojourn, a damage hero; and Junker Queen, a tank hero. The third hero is an unnamed support hero, hinted at to be some form of kitsune. Since it’s the first season, all the new OW2 changes are going to be included, such as changing PvP to 5v5, existing hero reworks, and the new maps and game mode. Push, the new mode, is replacing the 2CP mode, which was not a player favorite to say the least. There has already been heated debate about whether Push is better or not; however, with some pro players saying they prefer 2CP over guiding a single objective to the enemy base. Blizzard still has plenty of time to refine it, though, so we’ll see what the consensus is on launch.

In Season 2, players can expect another tank hero and new map, along with the second battle pass and new cosmetics. The new hero and map have not been revealed yet and probably won’t be for a while, since Season 2 isn’t set to launch until December 6. Blizzard also plans to continue support into 2023, with a new hero or heroes being released every other season and new maps and game modes being released in the alternating seasons. If they hold themselves to that schedule, there should be plenty of new Overwatch content to keep people coming back.

Finally, signups for the next beta session are open until June 28 — or until the beta test fills up. Although Blizzard has said that they will provide access to everyone who has signed up by July 14, it seems that they might be doing some sort of rolling testing or have additional servers open up. If you’re looking to get into what the game has to offer before the official release, the signups are on the official Overwatch website here. There are definitely some things that need to be ironed out, but that’s what beta testing is for, and I’m getting pretty excited about all the new content coming in October!