Many may have guessed this, but when Overwatch 2 releases, the original Overwatch will go the way of the dodo.
This was confirmed by game director Aaron Keller during an AMA on Reddit, clarifying that Overwatch 2 will fully replace the current live service.
“We’re using the term Early Access to indicate that this is just the start of many new things coming to the game. We’re launching with new heroes, maps and features, but there are even more of these coming seasonally – every 9 weeks. We recently released a roadmap detailing some of this content, with a new hero coming in Seasons 1 and 2, and a new map in Season 2. Additionally, larger pieces of the game that have always been a part of the vision for OW2 will be released to the game as part of the live service, including the launch of the PvE Campaign next year.
When OW2 launches on Oct 4th it will be a replacement for the current Live Service.”
Incidentally, during the same AMA Keller also confirmed what we can expect in terms of heroes going forward since the wording in past announcements was a bit vague and open to interpretation.
When Overwatch 2 releases, it’ll include Sojourn, Junker Queen, and an unannounced support hero. Season 2 on December 6 will include a new tank hero (who according to Keller is “almost finished”) and among the following three heroes, two will be supports.
Overwatch 2 launches on October 4 for PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC, and Nintendo Switch.
A beta test will start on June 28 and registrations are already open.
We already know that Overwatch 2 will bring several improvements to the formula of the original Overwatch, including a new game mode titled “push”
The game will actually be free-to-play with optional microtransactions, so it should be easy to access. The previously-announced PvE mode will come in 2023, which means that we’ll have to be content with PvP for the time being.
Seasons with new content will launch approximately every nine weeks with the second coming on December 6, 2022, and more following periodically in 2023.