Blizzard’s class-based PvP shooter, Overwatch, took the world by storm in 2016 and quickly became the best-selling game the same year. In 2019’s Blizzcon, a sequel, Overwatch 2 was announced and is set to feature an updated game engine, at least four new heroes, maps, game modes, and PvE co-op.
Since then, Blizzard has been sharing development updates as well as new info regarding the sequel. The game will be shifting its focus to 5v5 rather than the traditional 6v6 gameplay as players on both teams will be restricted to a single tank in their teams. In a recent earnings call, Activision Blizzard president and COO Daniel Alegre stated:
The extended Overwatch team is similarly making strong progress on Overwatch 2 with development passing an important internal milestone and recently, after great response to the recent community update, the team is looking forward to revealing more of the game in the coming months as they approach the later stages of production.
This seems to indicate that Overwatch 2 might see an early 2022 release, however, according to a recent leak by Metro, an Overwatch streamer, the game might be facing internal issues with development, and that it is “taking longer than expected”. He further went on to say that “a release in 2022 does not seem likely anymore.”
This seems to contradict Activision Blizzard’s statements earlier regarding the game’s development, which seems to make sense as Activision Blizzard is in turmoil after the recent lawsuit related to “frat boy culture” in the company. This has also impacted Overwatch League’s sponsorships as T-Mobile, Kellogg, and State Farm have all retracted their sponsorship from the league.
Still, it is best to take such leaks with a grain of salt as Blizzard has stated that they are “looking forward to revealing more of the game in the coming months as they approach the later stages of production”, which could mean that a release date announcement might be happening sooner rather than later.
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