Overwatch 2 Recap - Overbuff

Begins Tuesday, June 28, 2022.
Beta is on PC, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, and PlayStation 4.
There will be rolling waves of invites for everyone who opts-in to the beta here. The goal is to give everyone who opts-in access by Thursday, July 14.
You can gain access to the beta at its launch on June 28 by purchasing the Watchpoint Pack (except Switch). This link goes to the PC version but the Xbox, PlayStation, and Switch stores each have their own version. The Watchpoint Pack also comes with skins for Soldier: 76 and Cass (pictured below), the first battle pass, and a few other things.
No end date has been provided for the beta as of this posting. Last time it lasted three weeks so that’s all we have to go on.
This beta includes Junker Queen and the new hybrid map, Paraíso.

PvP launches Tuesday, October 4.
For owning Overwatch 1 before June 23, 2022, players get the “Founders Pack,” which includes a skin for both Doomfist and Sombra, and a surprise that will be announced between now and October 4. If you own Overwatch 1 before June 23, you must log into the game before December 5, 2022 to claim it.
There is Crossplay and cross-platform progression. At some point in the future we’ll get details about optional account merging.
Eventually you will have to have a mobile phone number linked to your account to play Overwatch 2. (link)
The PvE system is planned to come out in 2023.

Battle Pass System

Moving to a free-to-play model with a battle pass system, replacing the lootbox model. We don’t yet know what will happen to existing lootboxes or currency.
There are new charms and banners to collect or buy, along with skins and items we’ve been collecting for years. (Examples)
A new rarity level of skins is coming out called Mythic that allows users to customize the skin in some ways. The first will be for Genji. (Overwatch Twitter)
Seasons will last 9 weeks, and each be themed, with loot matching the theme.

9 week seasons, which is essentially the same as it is now, give or take the time of year. Currently it could be 8 or 9 weeks.
SR as we know it is going away, with no more numerical values. Instead, each rank of Gold, Platinum, and so on will be broken into something like Gold I, Gold II, Gold III. Seven wins in a rank was mentioned as an early example of going up in ranks, but we’ll get more details on this later.
There will be “after action reports” to help us gather better information in-game about our performance in matches. (Hopefully they’ll share this information outside of the game for websites like ours!)

She’s a new tank that’s meant to play very aggressive and she excels at flank routes.
She has a commanding shout that gives a boost to speed and armor to nearby allies.
Some of her abilities cause a “Wound” debuff, draining health and giving it to her.
Her primary fire is her shotgun, and her secondary fire is to throw her dagger. It temporarily gets stuck in whatever it gets thrown at, an enemy or the environment, and then it returns to her. It causes a Wound in any enemy it goes through, and if it gets stuck in any enemy on the initial throw, it will pull them closer to her.
Her ultimate is called Rampage where she spins her massive axe, dashes forward in a line, and causes wounds on any enemies she hits.

PvE is currently planned to come out in 2023.
The story over Overwatch will finally progress, centering around Null Sector and getting the new people of Overwatch working with the older crew.

We got previews of skins or mock-ups, like cop Tracer :/ and a very beautiful Mercy skin that includes a three-legged crow, based on various East Asian mythologies. (Sorry, my knowledge here is lacking and I only know what can be found on Wikipedia.) (skins) (Wikipedia)
There are over 25,000 new lines of dialogue in Overwatch 2, between story and the battlefield. There are even voice lines very rare or unlikely incidents, like Junkrat, from very far away, killing a Reaper who is in the middle of using Death Blossom. (Twitter)
Overwatch 2 will launch with three new heroes, Sojourn, Junker Queen, and a yet to be revealed support hero. Season 2 in December will add a new, unrevealed tank hero. After that, the rough goal is to release a new map and new hero every other season, much like the old days over Overwatch 1.
Competitive Season 35 is the final full season of comp for Overwatch 1 (unless Blizzard makes some sort of change that goes against tradition).