Overwatch 2 closed beta coming 26 April; PvP & PvE separated

Cool?

An Overwatch 2 closed beta will focus on PvP play from 26 April, with Activision Blizzard confirming the title’s PvE and PvP experiences will be separated from one another.

Let’s get into today’s news.

Closed PvP beta

A closed PvP alpha is already underway, offered in “select regions” and includes Blizzard employees, Overwatch League players and others. The closed PvP beta, starting on 26 April, will expand the player base to include the likes of us regular ol’ players.

Again offered to “select regions” — and we’ve asked Activision Blizzard to confirm if Australia is included in that — the closed beta “will include a larger group of testers who we will ask to provide gameplay feedback,” Blizzard advised. “Our goal for this phase is to test our new features, content, and systems before we shift to stress-testing the servers with a wider player base in future Beta tests.”

Update: An Activision Blizzard representative confirmed that “there aren’t any local servers currently for the Alpha testing phase; however, we are expecting the servers to expand to Australia once we move into Beta.”

The closed beta will offer 5v5 gameplay, offer up new Hero Soujourn and the new mode known as Push. Hero reworks and a new ping system will also be included.

To register for potential inclusion inside the closed PvP beta, head here.

Separation of PvP and PvE

Finally, Blizzard confirmed that it is “changing our release strategy by decoupling Overwatch 2’s PvP and PvE experiences from one another to get new PvP content into your hands sooner, while we continue to work on PvE.”

Game Director Aaron Keller explains more in a developer update, below.

We’re not entirely when to expect Overwatch 2 proper, but we’ll keep you informed as we learn more.

This article was originally published on 11 March; it’s since been updated with the exact date of the beta.