Arriving on Tuesday, April 26 is the Overwatch 2 beta! Here’s our short guide to help you prepare and appropriately set your expectations if you get in.
What you’ll be playing is not the final product. When Overwatch 2 is released on [REDACTED], it will not be the same as what you’re playing now. Heck it’s going to be different from the Alpha footage you saw from content creators this week.
MY HERO SUX NOW GG. MY FRIENDSHIP WITH OVERWATCH IS OVER
Your favorite hero’s cooldowns or new abilities may be stupidly overpowered or super slow on the beta. Maybe your hero didn’t really get any changes yet.
We know from comments made on various streams that Blizzard knows support players in the alpha were struggling with flankers and that they are working on some things to help that. Whatever those changes may be, they might be on the beta or they’re still working on that.
In any case, if your hero feels terrible right now I wouldn’t expect it to stay that way.
If you opted into the beta on the PlayOverwatch site it is not a guarantee you’ll get in this time or at all.
If you get in, the Overwatch 2 beta will appear as an option in your Battle.net launcher, probably in the pulldown menu pictured below. There will not be keys. You might also get an email saying you’re in. At least in the past Blizzard has done these two things with beta invites for World of Warcraft.
Beta access will be shared in waves over the course of at least the first day, but maybe longer. If you don’t get in right away it does not mean you’re not getting in.
xQc “spoiled” on his stream that “beta drops” will be enabled on streams, but what that means was left unsaid. This information is still under embargo until Monday at 1 pm Central.
Overwatch 2 will probably feel very chaotic, especially at the beginning of the beta, with everyone doing their own thing. You’ve gotten used to how Overwatch generally plays out after 6 years of playing, but in Overwatch 2 everything is going to feel different. Think of it like the best or worst parts of Quick Play.
It was the same thing when Overwatch launched in 2016 and it will happen here in 2022. I mean look at what we thought was AMAZING Overwatch play back then. (Highlight Reel)
Change How You Play
If you’re stuck in a certain way of playing the game in Overwatch 1, be ready to try change up your style a bit.
While many creators report their heroes generally felt the same even with different abilities, it was also common to hear they had to change how they played. Positioning might be different for you as a support, or damage dealers have to engage in fights different based on there being only one tank.
Receiving the biggest changes compared to their live versions, Doomfist and Orisa are going to be tempting for players to try out. With Sojourn being new, of course everyone wants to give her a shot.
With a smaller playerbase than the live servers, don’t be surprised if you get put against someone far above or far below your general skill range. It’s just how it is. 🙁
Remember that you’re here to test what you can and give feedback, not just to play a new game before everyone else does. You’ll also probably ignore that last sentence. 😉 Blizzard will announce ways to share feedback and bugs and you absolutely should! In past games they’ve made a section on the official forums specifically for this.