Overwatch Shuts Down Officially: Prepares for the Launch of Sequel Free-to-Play Game

Six years after its launching, Blizzard has announced that Overwatch will be shut down officially today, as Kotaku reported. The game will be formally replaced by its sequel, Overwatch 2, which will be launched on Tuesday, October 4th.

Commercial Lead Jon Spector stated that the shutdown would be done to make room for the launching. He added, "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."

Overwatch also tweeted on its official Twitter account @PlayOverwatch and encouraged fans to share their memories of the game as a celebration of a new chapter. Several fans have shared their sentiments on the replies and the hashtag #SeeYouOnTheOtherSide.

During its launch, 26 heroes were introduced in the game that features unique roles with different personalities. One of the reasons why the fans have enjoyed the game with these heroes is because it's free, as the game never asked for more than the original investment.

Overwatch 2 as a Replacement

Although the announcement will dismay the fans of the game, Overwatch 2 will be free-to-play for all players across Xbox, Playstation, Nintendo Switch, and PC. Because of this, large ramifications for the game have been implemented, as per Euro Gamer, such as the removal of loot boxes and focusing on a battle pass and the in-game shop.

Overwatch 2 will be taking a step to reduce toxicity within the games among several players as they upgrade their security. In an announcement last month, they stated that they would be updating its chat tools that will include voice chat recording as proof to issue bans.

Aside from this, the game also aims to defend its players from future threats. Verifying and registering their phone number during account set-up will prevent cheaters and spam players around the game. They stated, "A phone number can only be used once when making a new account, and certain types of numbers, including pre-paid and VOIP, cannot be used for SMS Protect."

Blizzard's Employees

Several resignations have been sent to the company from different employees this year and last year. This includes Executive Producer Chacko Sonny, Producer Tracy Kennedy, and the recently resigned Lead Hero Designer Geoff Goodman.

Although no reasons were given by the company, all of these were sent after a lawsuit was filed that indicates workplace harassment and discrimination by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing. As per them, Blizzard has ten violations regarding the state of employment law.

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Written by Inno Flores