LogInOverwatch 1 will disappear on October 2
We know that Overwatch 2 is arriving on October 4, however, the first game in the series will be unavailable two days prior.
"So roughly a day before Overwatch 2 launches, we're going to be taking down the Overwatch 1 servers," commercial lead Jon Spector explained to Eurogamer. "So that means, as a practical point, that October 2nd really is the last day to go in and play Overwatch 1. And then it's a 27-hour downtime that we're planning in order to get the Overwatch 2 server stood up and running.
The existing players will be able to pre-download Overwatch 2 and will be given a checklist of what to do to have a smooth experience.
Overwatch 2 brings many changes to the game, the most prominent being its switch to the free-to-play model. It won't have any loot boxes, but Battle Passes come in their stead, and you will want to work for them if you desire to play all the characters the game offers.
Blizzard announced that new heroes will need to be unlocked either by regularly playing the game or by buying a Premium Pass. In other words, casual players will find it hard to unlock characters without paying.
The Battle Pass will have 80 tiers to unlock (plus 60 for Premium Passes), with varying rewards, including heroes and Mythic skins – an upgrade to legendary skins, offering a level of customization, with layers you can mix and match, each containing different color schemes and patterns.
To get the rewards, you'll need to progress through the Battle Pass by playing the game as well as by completing daily and weekly challenges. If you complete the Pass, you'll progress through Prestige tiers, which this season reward unique hero titles you can equip on your name cards.
So starting with the newest support hero Kiriko, every new character in the game will be locked behind Tier 55 of the nine-week battle pass.
"Heroes are the single most engaging content that we have in the game," Overwatch general manager Walter Kong said. "And as we designed this model, it seemed to be a very strong fit to put those heroes into our new engagement systems."
Game director Aaron Keller added that Overwatch 2 has been designed to "reduce the amount of hard counters that Overwatch has" to give players "more freedom in what hero they're choosing for any particular situation."
If in Overwatch 1 this freedom takes the form of swapping heroes, the new game has tried to elevate every hero's strengths. Keller admitted it was done because many players refuse to switch characters even if they are "hard countered."
Blizzard assures the players it works hard on improving the game and making it better for everyone. We'll see how it's working out on October 4.
Meanwhile, check out the upcoming changes and benefits for Overwatch 1 players here. Also, don't forget to join our Reddit page and our Telegram channel, follow us on Instagram and Twitter, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.