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Overwatch 2 wraps up first PvP beta, plans mid-June event

The first PvP beta for Overwatch 2 has ended and Blizzard is already making plans for what's next.

Ozzie Mejia

May 17, 2022 2:45 PM

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Blizzard continues to put work into the upcoming Overwatch 2 and has announced that its first PvP beta has come to a close. The publisher won't be closing the Overwatch doors for very long, but before going any further, Team 4 has laid out formal plans to reveal what's next for the long-awaited sequel through a June event.

The following message was posted to the Overwatch website from Game Director Aaron Keller:

The Overwatch Team would like to take a moment to convey a heartfelt thank you to all the players that took part in our first beta. It was so exciting to see our community playing our game. The enthusiasm for this game and this universe means so much to us, it always has, and it always will.

Overwatch as a world, as a universe, is deeply personal to the team; something that we pour our time, creative energies and passion into. It can be scary putting something that means so much to you out there for other people to look at. Especially when you know that it’s not finished and you’re asking for people’s real and valid criticisms of what you’ve made.

But the reason we do it is important–to make a better game, and it’s our players and our community that make it possible. Tests like this are a vital part of the process of improving Overwatch. We can’t wait to take everything we’ve learned from the beta and apply it to the game, and we’re so excited to get it back in front of you.

Thank you for your time, energy and passion.
Thank you for playing our game.

This message followed the announcement that an Overwatch 2 event will air on Thursday, June 16. There is no concrete information given on what the June 16 presentation will entail, but the Overwatch team notes that they'll share plans for the foreseeable future, as well as a window for the second PvP beta.

The end of the first Overwatch 2 PvP Beta comes in the midst of a large wave of feedback. Some players are lauding the major hero changes and new hero Sojourn, but others are pointing out that very little about the actual gameplay has changed and that this feels more like a massive update to the original game than a genuine sequel. It remains to be seen how much of this feedback Blizzard will take to heart and we'll wait for the latest to come during this June event.

In the meantime, the original Overwatch just launched a new event called Overwatch Remix: Vol. 2. Set to run from today through June 7, players can pick up new Legendary skins like Poison Dart Lucio, Dark Wolf Hanzo, and Hydra Symmetra, while also picking up a handful of previous skins that they might have missed. Look for a selection of previous seasonal brawls to also be available throughout this event.

Overwatch 2 is set to release... eventually on PC and consoles. We'll be watching the big June 16 event for the latest updates, so follow us at Shacknews for more.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?