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With the launch of Overwatch 2 a little over a week away, many players are wondering what this means for the original Overwatch.
The upcoming sequel on October 4 will make a lot of changes. Not just with the new free-to-play business model, but the core game itself including a reduction of team size from 6 to 5.
But if you’re a fan of the old game – and given its immense popularity, chances are high – we’re afraid it may be bad news. Here’s what you need to know.
Is Overwatch 1 shutting down?
Yes. The news was confirmed by Blizzard in a Reddit AMA with game director Aaron Keller earlier this year. “When OW2 launches on Oct 4th it will be a replacement for the current Live Service.”
Blizzard has been preparing the user base for this over the last few weeks – including offering an Account Merge service so that your progression and in-game cosmetics will carry over to the new game.
NOW READ: Overwatch 2 Tier list – who makes the grade
When the new game launches, Blizzard clarified, it’ll be delivered almost like a large patch to the original game – so your current installation will be overwritten with the sequel.
It doesn’t sound like there’ll be any way to revert to the original game once the sequel is live.
When is Overwatch 1 shutting down?
Speaking to Eurogamer, commercial lead Jon Spector revealed that the last day to play the original Overwatch 1 will be October 2nd.
“So, roughly a day before Overwatch 2 launches, we’re going to be taking down the Overwatch 1 servers,” he said. “So that means, as a practical point, that October 2nd really is the last day to go in and play Overwatch 1.”
“And then it’s a 27-hour downtime that we’re planning in order to get the Overwatch 2 server stood up and running.”
It’s worth noting that Spector was speaking in Pacific Time, so there is a chance it may be up for a small part of October 3 if you’re on the other side of the world – but generally speaking; any final business you have to attend to in Overwatch 1: get it done before October 2.
What happens to my Overwatch 1 items?
Blizzard has previously confirmed that your progression and cosmetics from the first Overwatch game will transfer over to the sequel.
However, you will need to merge your console account to a Battle.net account. Players from all platforms will require a Battle.net account to play Overwatch 2 – and will need to use this to redeem your earned items.
To do so, you must login to Overwatch 1 on your platform of choice, where you’ll be prompted to approve the merge or set it up. It’s best you do this before the launch of Overwatch 2 on October 4, as it’s not currently clear if this will be possible once the new game comes out.
You can read up a full FAQ of the process over on the Overwatch website.
If you want more information on Overwatch 2 – you can check out our release date hub here, or everything we know on the Overwatch 2 Season 1 battle pass over here.
Videogamer.com is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API / Last updated on 2024-04-16
