Activision Blizzard isn’t owned by Microsoft just yet, but the publisher still had a presence at Sunday’s Xbox and Bethesda showcase. There was a trailer for Overwatch 2, along with some major news. The game will be free-to-play and early access will begin on October 4th (the Overwatch blog calls this the game’s launch). There will be at least one more beta before then, with details to be announced at a reveal event on Thursday.
The clip showed a glimpse of a new hero that’s been part of the game’s lore for years, the Junker Queen. It seems likely that the character will be playable as part of the next beta. They have a shotgun and a Reinhardt-esque melee weapon, and it appears that one of their abilities involves rampaging forward. With the sequel already having one new damage character in Sojourn, it seems Junker Queen will be a tank character.
The trailer also included a quick look at a new Zenyatta ability, which allows the omnic to knock back an enemy with a melee attack. Naturally, it invokes the movie 300, since you can kick an opponent into the Ilios well. In addition, there was a glimpse of a mysterious fox that was leading a team into a fight.
Given that Blizzard will move all current Overwatch players to Overwatch 2, the original game will be going free-to-play as well. Those who own the game before June 23rd will receive a founder’s pack, with a special icon, two skins (General Doomfist and Jester Sombra) and more goodies. You’ll need to log in before the Overwatch 2 early access launch to receive it.
It’s unclear whether the player-vs-environment side of the sequel will be free too, or how Blizzard plans to monetize everything. Overwatch 2 will at long last move to a seasonal content format, which suggests there will be a battle pass of some kind. That means there should finally be content updates on a regular cadence.
Should the Microsoft deal go through, Overwatch 2 will surely be more than likely be included in Game Pass anyway. It’s worth noting that only the player-vs-player (PvP) side will be available at launch on October 4th. The co-op missions will arrive later.
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