Blizzard first revealed Overwatch 2 at BlizzCon in early November of 2019. Ever since then, we haven’t heard too much more about the game. While there have been a few leaks suggesting the game might launch in 2020, other evidence suggests that this won’t be the case. Here are some reasons why.
None of the Overwatch 2 leaks seem conclusive
Most of the Overwatch 2 leaks are in the form of tweets that stated the game would release in 2020. The Vancouver Titans and PlayStation Brazil both tweeted this and deleted the tweets soon after. There is no word on why they tweeted this, but it doesn’t seem like conclusive evidence.
The other leak occurred when Alex “Goldenboy” Mendez said that it will release “later this year” on an episode of The Four Heads podcast. Goldenboy works for Blizzard and might have information that others don’t. Even so, he might not know the exact date and may have just been taking a shot in the dark on the possible release.
Blizzard is still looking for employees
If you have opened the Blizzard client recently, you have probably seen the “Overwatch is hiring engineers” advertisement with the picture of Torbjorn on it. Blizzard is still hiring people to work on Overwatch 2. This could mean that there is probably still a long way to go before we see it live.
Given the nature of some of the positions the company is looking to fill, it seems like they have a long way to go. This is all speculation of course, as we don’t know the internal situation, but there are a lot of senior-level job openings available here. We can assume, by this, that they are still a long way away from a finished product.
The coronavirus
The coronavirus has changed everyone’s lives. It will undoubtedly have an impact on the creation of Overwatch 2 as well. Due to the lockdown, the team won’t be able to work together in person as much as they would have otherwise, which may slow down the process. BlizzCon has already been canceled for 2020 due to the virus, which is where we probably would have heard more about the game.
On top of all of this, it’s already June and all we know is that Blizzard is working on it. With all of this in mind, it seems highly unlikely that the game will launch in 2020. Realistically, Overwatch 2 will probably release around Overwatch‘s five-year anniversary next May.
