The date for the open beta of Overwatch is set. But what about the Early Access? We have all the details.
Pre-order customers get extra time
After a leak yesterday revealed the release date for Overwatch, Blizzard quickly followed up and confirmed it. Accordingly, the hero shooter Overwatch will be released on May 24, 2016.
The date for the open beta has also been mentioned. From May 5 to May 9, all interested players can try Overwatch completely for free. There will be no restrictions in the beta, all heroes, maps, and game modes will be freely accessible during this time.
Anyone who decides to pre-order Overwatch by April 29 will even receive a little extra benefit. All pre-order customers will receive “Early Access” to the open beta on May 3 and 4, which only pre-order customers can participate in – along with a friend. That’s right, anyone who buys Overwatch in advance will receive two keys for the beta, one for themselves and one for a friend. According to Jeff Kaplan “Overwatch is most fun when played with friends” and that’s exactly what they want to convince players of during the beta.
On May 3 and 4, the “Open Beta” will essentially be “exclusive”, after which it will be open for everyone. The beta will take place on PC, PS4, and Xbox One. However, players on different platforms cannot play against or with each other.
Furthermore, all progress from the Open Beta and “Early Access Open Beta” will not be transferred to the live version of the game. Earned skins, reward boxes, statistics, and other cosmetics will be deleted again before release.
However, there is a small negative news for console players. For Xbox One players, an Xbox Live Gold membership is required, both for the beta and the published game. For PS4, no PlayStation Plus is required for the beta, but it is necessary for the published version.
For more news and articles about the game, such as the experience reports on Frost Queen Mei or Roadhog, you can find them on our Overwatch topic page.
