Overwatch 2 will be released on October 4 as a Free2Play title. As Blizzard has now clarified in a Reddit AMA, this also means the end of Overwatch 1.
In a Reddit AMA – a kind of interview with the entire Reddit community – on June 22, developers of Overwatch 2 answered fan questions. One of the most important pieces of information from this thread was the clear statement that Overwatch 1 will completely disappear, as soon as Part 2 is released on October 4 as a Free2Play title.
What do the developers say? In response to a question about the “Early Access” of the game, Director Aaron Keller explained: “When OW2 launches on October 4, it will be a replacement for the current live service.” This means that Overwatch 1 in its current form will no longer exist, but will be completely and utterly replaced by Overwatch 2. On PC, it will even run through the same file: Overwatch.exe.
For years, it was unclear what would happen to Overwatch 1
Why is this statement important? A tweet shortly after the reveal of Overwatch 2 caused years of confusion. It stated that players of Overwatch 1 and 2 will play together on the same maps. The community did not know if this meant that Overwatch 1 and 2 would be playable at the same time or if the successor would replace the original.
Now it is clear: Overwatch 1 will no longer be playable with the release of Part 2. For many players who have already been able to test the beta of the successor, this is not a problem. The changes in Part 2 are so good, that Part 1 seems “unplayable” in comparison.
Here you can see the gameplay trailer of the latest hero in Overwatch 2, Junker Queen:
There will likely not be an “Overwatch Classic”
Will Overwatch 1 come back? As the speculation that Overwatch 1 will be completely replaced has been circulating for almost 3 years, some fans hope for a kind of “Overwatch Classic” – that Overwatch will be made available as it was at launch, similar to what happened with WoW Classic.
In 2020, former Overwatch director Jeff Kaplan stated that a hypothetical Overwatch Classic “would be very costly from a technical and artistic perspective” (via Twitter). There have also been hints that Blizzard itself has not fully archived Overwatch in its old form, which means that such a restoration is unlikely to happen.
What do you think about this announcement? Do you want to continue playing Overwatch 1 or do you prefer Part 2 with all its changes? Let us know in the comments.
By the way: If you want to play Overwatch 2, you will need a mobile phone
