Blizzard Entertainment is set to hold an Overwatch 2 Developer Livestream ahead of the game's beta release in late April, giving more details on the beta, results from the Alpha, and what players can expect from its gameplay.
The broadcast will have Game Director, Aaron Keller, Overwatch League host, Soe Gschwind, and other members of the development team discussing early impressions on Overwatch 2 and the goals for the first closed beta.
Overwatch 2 Developer Livestream Start Time
The Overwatch 2 Developer Livestream will be taking place on Friday, March 18, 2022, at 3 pm EST.
Overwatch 2 Developer Livestream
Where to watch
The Overwatch 2 Developer Livestream can be watched through the official Overwatch Twitch channel.
To visit the channel click here.
Overwatch 2 Beta Release Date
According to Blizzard Entertainment, players can expect Overwatch 2's beta to release in "late April" for PC users.
This comes after the company announced that the game has been alpha tested by "Blizzard employees, Overwatch League pros, and a few other select groups."
READ MORE: Overwatch 2 Beta: Release Date, How to Sign Up, Gameplay Details
Players will be granted access in phases, meaning that more and more players will be added as the beta progresses.
Overwatch 2 Beta Gameplay
The beta test will only take on a portion of the game's PvP. This comes after Blizzard Entertainment planned a "decoupling" of the game's PvP and PvE elements in an attempt to bring new Overwatch content to players sooner while they continue to work on the sequel's much-anticipated single-player and cooperative aspects.
Overwatch 2's beta test is set to come with several new bells and whistles.
It will be the franchise's transition to 5v5 from 6v6. Instead of the usual 2-2-2 composition that usually houses two tanks, two supports, and two DPS, the teams will now have one tank, two supports, and two DPS.
Additionally, it will make the new DPS hero, Sojourn, and a new mode, Push, available.
Push features a robot that both teams fight to control. Also serving as a barricade, the teams will have to move him towards the direction of their enemy's spawn. The objective of the game is to push the robot, or the barricade, as far as possible. Pushing it to the end grants an instant victory, however, if times run out, the team with the furthest distance wins. If teams were to go into overtime, the same rule would go into effect.
The beta will also herald four new maps that will represent four new cities that haven't been a part of Overwatch before. These are Toronto, Rome, New York City, and Monte Carlo. The maps are as follows:
- Circuit Royal - Escort Map
- Midtown - Hybrid Map
- New Queen Street - Push Map
- Colosseo - Push Map
Lastly, four heroes will be receiving reworks, namely Orisa, Doomsfist, Bastion, and Sombra, and Overwatch will be introducing a new ping system - something that players of the game have asked for in the past.