Thanks to a leaked IGN ad campaign, Overwatch‘s final release date, as well as the early access details, have been revealed.
Overwatch will be releasing simultaneously for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on May 24, 2016. Early access will be granted to fans who pre-ordered the game, via an open beta that will go live on May 3.
Blizzard has taken a very focused approach on development. After an extensive beta period that ran until last December 2015, Blizzard took a break for one month, bringing the beta back live in February. This time, the beta featured a progression system, a new game mode, two maps, and more. Blizzard was already talking about progression since December, and in February, they decided that progress would award cosmetic items, instead of upgrades.
However, it still seems that Overwatch needs some more time in the oven. Blizzard shared a detailed video explaining what concerns they had with Ranked Play and what they hoped to accomplish when they implemented it. As of now, it still has no ranked gameplay modes. Instead, it has three game modes; Point Capture, Payload and Control. These are essentially Overwatch versions of Domination, Capture The Flag, and King of the Hill, respectively. Blizzard definitely intends to add more modes, but are still looking for ways to balance what casual and hardcore players want out of it.
Clearly, while many features in Overwatch have received a significant amount of polish, Blizzard is still working on finalizing some of these details. It makes sense that they would take a few more months before releasing it.
Are you satisfied with Overwatch releasing in May? Is there anything else you would like to see that has not come up from Blizzard yet? Share your thoughts with us in the comments.
