Concrete Overwatch 2 news has been relatively sparse since the public Overwatch 2 playtest was conducted at the Overwatch League playoffs in September of 2021. However, eagle-eyed fans have recently spotted a hint that the hotly anticipated new game could be getting a beta soon.
Overwatch fans noticed that a new Overwatch developer build was pushed to Blizzard game launcher Battle.net on the night of Feb. 3. The version number went from 1.68 to 2.0. It is now listed as 2.00.7.0.93221, according to BlizzTrack at time of writing. This is likely a meaningful change, given that every Overwatch patch since the game’s release in 2016 has been on 1.0.
The Overwatch developer build is encrypted, so would-be data miners are out of luck when it comes to investigating further. But the update’s very existence, after months of silence, lends credence to circulating rumors of an Overwatch 2 beta in early 2022. Fans have also noticed that a build named “Overwatch Demo 2” was pushed to Battle.net with the same update.
Overwatch 2 finally shows up on https://t.co/7n7qnRLxhH !
Several builds were pushed last night including a version 2.00.7.0.93195 for developers and a "Demo 2" 👀 pic.twitter.com/Rb79dWE0yX
— Overwatch Cavalry (@OWCavalry) February 4, 2022
Overwatch 2 was announced at BlizzCon in 2019 and, since then, news of the game has been few and far between. The most that fans have gotten to see of the game, so far, came at the Overwatch League 2021 playoffs, where pro players tested the game in exhibition matches and new reworks of old heroes were revealed. Activision Blizzard investor updates also, generally, haven’t been enlightening, with the most recent one from Feb. 3 simply stating that development is ongoing.
A definite release date has not been announced as of yet. However, an Overwatch 2 beta in spring 2022 would coincide with the start of the 2022 Overwatch League season, which will be played on an early build of Overwatch 2. Fans have been left to speculate about how the move to 5v5 will affect pro teams and the overall flow of the game. But, if a beta is indeed planned to come out sometime during 2022, they may be able to try it out for themselves.
