Overwatch 2 is getting a second beta this month featuring its new hero

By DeAngelo Epps June 14, 2022

After announcing a definite release date and the all-new hero Junker Queen, Overwatch 2 is ready for a second beta. According to its official Twitter page, Overwatch 2 is coming back to consoles and PC for an extended beta test on June 28 that will feature a new map and playable character.

#Overwatch2 Beta begins June 28

🎮 PC & Console
👑 Junker Queen & a New Map
✋ Sign-Ups & more details coming June 16 pic.twitter.com/XPJOhfeVjE

— Overwatch (@PlayOverwatch) June 14, 2022

Overwatch 2 first beta came and went in April and gained its fair share of praise and criticism. We at Digital Trends saw it as a return to glory, but one without any true new additions. At the time, we noted that it felt more like “Overwatch 1.5.”

Recommended Videos

It’s unlikely that Blizzard will offer anything big enough in the follow-up to change the initial takeaway from the first beta. However, with a new hero and map, it’ll be hard to resist for fans of the hero shooter.

Like the previous beta, those that want to participate have to sign up earlier and hope that they find an invite code to the festivities in their inbox before the beta begins. No specifics about signing up have been announced as of yet, but it’s expected to mirror the first beta’s prerequisites.

The second Overwatch 2 beta begins on June 28. Players hoping to sign up will be waiting until Thursday, June 16 to find out how they can get in on the early action.

Those that don’t make it in this time shouldn’t fret too much. Overwatch 2‘s free-to-play player-vs-player mode is set to launch on October 4. That isn’t too much waiting time for anyone that gets left out.

Topics

De'Angelo Epps is a gaming writer passionate about the culture, communities, and industry surrounding gaming. His work ranges…

Gaming

Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 is getting a new mode and overhauled DMZ in Season 3

Characters parachuting in Warzone 2.0 Season 3.

Activision published a massive new blog post highlighting what to expect from Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Season 3. The upcoming season, which will launch on April 12, has plenty in store, including new Warzone 2.0 modes, a DMZ overhaul, new weapons, and plenty of additional features.

On the Warzone 2.0 side of things, expect the new Al Mazrah Massive Resurgence mode to drop as soon as the season begins. This will allow players to respawn continuously as long as at least one player on a team remains alive on Al Mazrah, just like Ashika Island. You can also look forward to Plunder and Warzone Ranked to launch as part of the midseason update later on.

Gaming

Overwatch 2’s newest hero Lifeweaver is a game-changer for support players

overwatch 2s new hero lifeweaver 2

Overwatch 2's next hero has officially been announced: The support-class hero Lifeweaver will debut in season 4 of the free-to-play shooter in mid-April. Lifeweaver will be the 37th hero on Overwatch 2’s roster, and the ninth support hero following Kiriko's release when the game launched in the fall of 2023.

Blizzard has yet to release specific details on Lifeweaver's abilities or backstory, but players can catch a glimpse of the hero's playstyle in a short gameplay trailer released today.

Gaming

Counter-Strike 2 could succeed where Overwatch 2 failed

Soldiers in Counter-Strike 2 key art.

In 2023's most surprising news so far, Counter-Strike 2 is coming. The competitive shooter isn't just a follow-up to the massively popular Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, but an upgrade to that game using the new Source 2 engine. A beta is already underway, with the full game scheduled to come sometime this summer. With how Valve is handling the project, I can't help but think of how Blizzard rolled out its own recent shooter sequel: Overwatch 2.

Both games are highly popular, competitive, and live-service style games with a heavy emphasis on cosmetics for monetization that have highly dedicated communities. The biggest similarity -- and also criticism in the case of Overwatch 2 -- is the fact that both sequels retroactively replace their predecessors, forcing everyone to upgrade to the sequel whether they want to or not. This is a relatively new concept in gaming, where older versions of online games become entirely inaccessible and Overwatch 2 didn't inspire a lot of confidence in it being a beneficial trend. That said, Counter-Strike 2 is already in a perfect position to succeed in all the ways Overwatch 2 failed.
If it ain't broke
In normal circumstances, a sequel is a developer's opportunity to iterate and make alterations to the core of the game that came before. Obviously, there's a limit to how big these changes should be -- a shooter shouldn't suddenly become a 2D fighting game -- but a combination of new features being added and old ones being removed is expected. That becomes a much trickier proposition in this new age of sequels where the new version is the only option. In the case of Overwatch 2 and Counter-Strike 2, players don't have the luxury of being able to keep playing the old version they loved.