Cover-Credits:
Overwatch 2 had its last beta in July and it looks like Blizzard Entertainment is not interested in having any more beta tests before the game’s player-versus-player (PvP) component launches in October. Jon Spector, Overwatch‘s Commercial Leader cum Vice President confirmed that players will have to wait until 4th October to experience the game again.
The lack of an open beta is disappointing for some fans
All previous betas that were made accessible to players were either through sign-ups, beta key drops from Twitch streams, or through purchasing an access pack for $40 USD. Players who could not watch Twitch to secure beta access were essentially left out from the beta if they didn’t spend money or many weren’t lucky enough to secure access from the sign-up portal.
There have been multiple betas so far and players got to experience Sojourn and Junker Queen, who are two of the new heroes set to release with Overwatch 2. We also got a look at what the 5v5 gameplay feels on some of the new maps alongside night or day versions of the original maps.
Overwatch Game Director Aaron Keller revealed in an official livestream last year that the change to 5v5 is designed to make the combat easier to read and understand for spectators and players alike. It becomes harder for a player in a match to track what eleven players are doing in the field compared to just nine according to Keller. Reducing the team size also makes decision-making easier, as there are fewer variables to consider.
Geoff Goodman, who is the lead game designer for Overwatch revealed that the studio has no intentions of making every tank super aggressive. Instead, they are shifting some of the more aggressive tanks like D.Va to a more tanky playstyle. Characters also have passive traits. Tanks are resistant to knockbacks, DPS heroes are able to retain ultimate charge when switching to other characters and supports can passively heal when out of combat.
But the PvP is not everything that is coming with Overwatch 2. There will also be co-op missions and other story content coming to the game in 2023.
