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Overwatch 2 Launch Time, Trailer and More

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Overwatch 2 is arriving in less than a week and we have a brand new trailer to check out, as well as the launch timing and checklists for what to do if you're a new or existing player! 

Blizzard LogoOW2 (Source)

Overwatch 2 is almost here! There are a few things to know ahead of its official launch on October 4. We have a new SMS Protection requirement that’s important to understand in order to play, so please read thoroughly and take the steps listed to ready your account so you can jump in and play right away once the game is live!

Overwatch 2 is anticipated to be live worldwide
at approximately 12:00 p.m. PDT on October 4.

Overwatch 2 is almost here! There are a few things to know ahead of its official launch on October 4. We have a new SMS Protection requirement that’s important to understand in order to play, so please read thoroughly and take the steps listed to ready your account so you can jump in and play right away once the game is live!

  • REQUIRED TO PLAY: Activate SMS Protection—As part of our free-to-play transition, all players must attach an eligible cell phone number to their Battle.net Account to play Overwatch 2. This is part of our Defense Matrix initiative, a multi-pronged system to combat disruptive in-game behavior. You can read more about the Defense Matrix here. Here's how to activate SMS protection on your account:
    1. Visit https://account.battle.net/ and log in. Navigate to "Account Details".
    2. Add your phone number, including the area code, where it says, "Phone Number". Please note, country code is restricted to the designated country listed on your Blizzard account and certain types of phone numbers, including pre-paid and VOIP, cannot be used for SMS Protect.
    3. Click "Continue". You'll receive an incoming SMS text message prompting you with a verification code. Enter this code in the field and click "Continue" to activate SMS protection. More info on adding a phone number to your account can be found here.
  • Pre-download Overwatch 2—To ensure you’re able to play right away on launch day, make sure you’ve got the game pre-loaded on your device!
    • For existing PC users and Watchpoint Pack owners on PC, Overwatch 2 can be pre-downloaded starting at approximately 1:30 p.m. PDT on September 30 and is a ~50 GB download. This download will happen automatically in the background if you have automatic updates enabled on Battle.net, otherwise you must manually begin the download by clicking on the gear icon on the right side of the play button and selecting "Check for Updates".
    • For existing console users, this can be done starting at approximately 9:00 a.m. PDT on October 4 and is a ~30 GB download.
  • Merge your accounts—With the launch of cross-progression, players can merge multiple Overwatch accounts to carry progression and in-game cosmetics into Overwatch 2 on a single profile. Existing players with multiple accounts must confirm their account merge to carry over progress from Overwatch into Overwatch 2. If you’ve only made progress in Overwatch on a single platform, no action is needed from you. For more information on Account Merge, check out our FAQ.

 

  • REQUIRED TO PLAY: Activate SMS Protection—All players much attach an eligible cell phone number to their Battle.net Account to play Overwatch 2. This is part of our Defense Matrix, a multi-pronged system to combat disruptive behavior. You can read more about the Defense Matrix here. Here's how to activate SMS protection on your account:
    1. Visit https://account.battle.net/ and log in. Navigate to "Account Details".
    2. Add your phone number, including the area code, where it says, "Phone Number". Please note, country code is restricted to the designated country listed on your Blizzard account and certain types of phone numbers, including pre-paid and VOIP, cannot be used for SMS Protect.
    3. Click "Continue". You'll receive an incoming SMS text message prompting you with a verification code. Enter this code in the field and click "Continue" to activate SMS protection. More info on adding a phone number to your account can be found here.
  • Download Overwatch 2—For new console and PC users, this can be done at launch starting at approximately 12:00 p.m. PDT on October 4. The download size for console is ~30 GB and the download size for PC is ~50 GB.

 

Overwatch Servers Will Go Down Temporarily Before Launch

It’s no small feat to launch a video game! To do so for Overwatch 2, we’ll be taking the current version of Overwatch down starting at approximately 9:00 a.m. PDT on October 3. This means October 2 is your last full day to play the original Overwatch! Thanks for playing, and for your support as we celebrate Overwatch entering a bright and exciting new era.

With that, you’re all set! We look forward to grouping up with you soon in Overwatch 2!

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The good old "we're doing it for security guys, trust us" plan with the SMS auth.

Instead of having real people monitoring gameplay as it used to be with GMs in WoW, since an attached phone number doesn't really work, bots, ads, cheaters are still rampant. This only opens up another attack vector for 3rd parties and data selling companies for ads while further reducing trust in the company.

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On 9/28/2022 at 2:46 PM, Andser said:

The good old "we're doing it for security guys, trust us" plan with the SMS auth.

Instead of having real people monitoring gameplay as it used to be with GMs in WoW, since an attached phone number doesn't really work, bots, ads, cheaters are still rampant. This only opens up another attack vector for 3rd parties and data selling companies for ads while further reducing trust in the company.

i think its actually so that you cant just come back to ow when you are banned since ow is free now the phonenumber stops you since they wont allow your number if its on a banned account already and they dont accept prepaid cards

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      Symmetra and Torbjorn are two other damage heroes that we are keeping a close eye on now. Over the course of the first week, their win rates have been gradually increasing, and they are showing the highest win rates now at some ranks. Both heroes can be effective counters to Genji and may be enjoying their success due to his popularity. When we look at potentially making changes to them we need to keep in mind the landscape of the rest of the hero roster. For example if Genji is tweaked and possibly played less these heroes might see less success and not need adjustments themselves.
      Sly as a fox
      Kiriko has been well-received by the community, with an initial play rate of over 75% in most matches when we first launched, making her an instant favorite among many players. This play rate has since balanced out compared to other support heroes, however, her win rate increased from 48% to 52% as players learned her kit and playstyle over this past week. Her healing averages in the middle when you compare it to the rest of the support roster, and her damage output right now is about even with Ana which is relatively low compared to heroes like Lucio, Moira, and Brigitte. Kiriko gets a lot of value in her evasiveness with Wall Climb and Swift Step to get out of harm’s way, allowing her to stay alive longer in team fights and making her the most survivable support hero on the roster currently. We’re keeping an eye on how she performs in the weeks ahead of the Overwatch League Playoffs next month.
      Missions around the world
      With new and returning maps based on locations worldwide, we want each season in Overwatch 2 to feel refreshing and exciting for new and returning players. To support that goal and also to allow our team, when we think it’s appropriate, to make adjustments to our maps, we have begun to run a map pool featuring all-new locations and many original maps. For season 1, we’re playing on the following maps for both Quick and Competitive Play:
      Control Ilios - Evening Lighting Lijiang Tower - Dawn Lighting Oasis - Night Lighting Nepal - Morning Lighting Busan - Night Lighting Escort Circuit royal – Night Lighting Dorado - Evening Lighting Route 66 - Night Lighting Gibraltar - Morning Lighting Junkertown - Morning Lighting Hybrid Midtown - Morning Lighting King’s Row - Evening Lighting Eichenwalde - Evening Lighting Hollywood - Morning Lighting Paraíso - Morning Lighting Push New Queen Street - Morning Lighting Colosseo - Evening Lighting Esperança - Morning Lighting Each subsequent season, we will rotate some maps out of the map pool and bring back others that had been previously out of rotation. As we continue to rotate maps in and out, we’ll be looking at improving and tweaking them, so for example, when Rialto returns in Season Two, players will notice a few spots where we have added additional cover which should help the map play better in the 5v5 environment with reduced shields. For players who want to play maps not currently in the map rotation, hop into a custom game or the occasional arcade mode.
      Climbing the ranks
      Our team would like to apologize for ranking many players too low during the first week of Overwatch 2. We discovered a bug that was impacting player skill ratings, which is what contributed to many players being placed in Bronze 5 when they should have been placed higher. Our most recent patch included a fix that will help you get back to your true rank quickly, and that will be reflected the next time you receive a competitive ranking update. You will receive a boost as you continue playing to help you get up to the correct ranks. Players who haven’t yet placed in competitive won’t experience this issue after the fix goes live.
      We’re also watching your feedback about how we present your skill tier and division and how you celebrate that in-game. While we don’t have any details we can share yet, expect us to make more improvements to Competitive, and we will continue to watch for your feedback.
      Thank you for week one, and here’s to many more
      Finally, we want to ensure games play out fairly for all players in all matches. In a future patch, we’ll fix an issue that could cause some rubber banding in-game. We also want to be certain that hit registration for shots fired is working pixel-perfectly. We have investigated reports from players about hit registration, and many reports are actually related to how our replay tool works, which does not perfectly capture the alignment of each player’s aim. 
      There are also misconceptions about how our controller settings on PC work, which does not affect mouse input. As an example, aim smoothing under gamepad does not impact mouse input latency or precision. However, in one report, we discovered a bug that affected the hitbox alignment of our rendered objects for Junker Queen in some specific situations, and we’re working diligently to fix this issue. 
      We also understand that some PC players have concerns with input responsiveness and recommend trying out these changes to improve how quickly the game responds to player input:
      Make sure the in-game resolution setting matches your actual monitor’s set resolution. Set the capped frame rate to a value that matches your monitor’s maximum frame rate. If you have an NVidia graphics card, turn on NVidia Reflex + Boost. Otherwise, turn on Reduced Buffering for other GPUs. Finally, in your gameplay options, turn on Enable High Precision Mouse Input to speed up how frequently your mouse captures position in the game. Thank you to all the players who were a part of the first week of Overwatch 2. While this time has been incredibly exciting for the community and our team, it’s also come with many challenges that we're looking to address quickly. We will continue to listen to player feedback as we strive to make Overwatch 2 the best game it can be, and we are looking forward to sharing more in the coming weeks leading up to Season Two. In the meantime, we hope everyone is having a blast in the game, and we will talk again soon! 
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