Despite setbacks seemingly due to the ongoing Activision Blizzard controversies and potential insider trading regarding the Microsoft buyout, it appears Blizzard is ramping back up on the development of Overwatch 2. The game has been in development for nearly three years at this point, and players will be able to get their first taste of the sequel when the PvP beta kicks off on April 26. Ahead of the beta, though, Blizzard will share its balancing updates for its newest character, Sojourn, along with a few others, so players know what they are in store for when the beta goes live.
Narratively, Overwatch 2 kicks off shortly after the events depicted in Blizzard's series of animated shorts, with the reunited titular organization battling a second omnic uprising and the terrorist organization Talon. The game will contain persistent PvE modes, akin to the PvE seasonal events in the first game, in the form of story missions using a pre-set selection of characters and horde-style hero missions where the whole roster is available to choose from. The game will continue to emphasize PvP, though, but will be reducing team size from six to five, and teams will be locked to having only one tank character, a change PC players will get a chance to test out starting April 26.
In regards to the PC beta, players have been curious as to what the character balancing will look like ahead of it going live, especially after recent leaks suggest new character Sojourn's railgun may be able to one-shot opponents. Overwatch Commercial Leader Jon Spector touched on the studio's balancing plans on Twitter over the weekend following the most recent developer stream. He assured players Sojourn, along with Doomfist and Orisa, are "likely" to undergo further balancing before the beta goes live, and the studio will share balance notes "accordingly."
Spector's statement may come as a relief to some players, but there are still plenty of questions about some of the character reworks planned for Overwatch 2. The aforementioned Doomfist, in particular, has become a focus of the game's community after Blizzard confirmed he was being reworked from a damage hero to a tank hero. However, Blizzard has not provided any details about what this rework will look like.
The PC PvP beta is the first step in what is planned to be an incremental rollout of Overwatch 2 over the next year or so. The competitive multiplayer will be rolled out first, while the PvE modes will be released at a later date. Game director Aaron Keller said the reason was to get Overwatch 2 into players' hands sooner given how support for the first Overwatch dropped off due to the sequel's development.
The Overwatch 2 PC beta is scheduled to begin April 26, 2022, while no release date has been announced for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
Source: Dexerto
