Overwatch 2 Reaches 25 Million Players in 1 Week

Over 25 million people downloaded Overwatch 2 in week 1. Overwatch 2's launch was not without its fair share of problems though. Read on to find out about the good, the bad and everything in between!

25 Million Overwatch Players

Blizzard announced on Twitter that 25 million players downloaded and logged in to Overwatch 2 during its launch week. On this measure, it could be deemed as a successful launch, however it was not without its fair share of roadbumps.

Launch Hindered by Bugs, Server Issues and DDos Attacks

Game Breaking Bugs

Overwatch 2 has had a long list of bugs (too many to detail in this article), some minor, others game breaking. This has hampered its launch and players' ability to enjoy the game. Some of the more severe bugs include:

• Rubber Banding: Players are still reporting that even in areas of good internet connection, enemy players and their own character are speeding forward and snapping back again constantly.
• Bronze 5 Bug: This has been resolved now, however some players were perpetually stuck on Bronze 5 (the lowest tier and division) no matter how well they played, or how many games in a row they won.
• Characters Locked: This has also been fixed, however many returning players were having the new FTUE system, which is designed to ease new players into the game by gradually unlocking characters as they progress, incorrectly applied to them.
• Missing Skins and Other Cosmetics: This has been mostly fixed (except for certain skins such as the Genji Happi skin). Players' skins, cosmetics, currency and other data were failing to transfer across from their Overwatch 1 accounts. Some players are still being affected by this problem.
• Bastion's Ultimate: Bastion's Configuration Artillery had a bug which was being exploited by players. This was allowing Bastion users to launch unlimited artillery strikes rapidly during the window that its ultimate was active. Bastion is now removed from play while the developers work on a fix.

Other Notable Bugs

• Floaty Aim Assist for PC Players
• PC Input Response Lag
• Torbjörn's Overload Ability Bug
• Visual Bug Upon Use of Alt+Tab
• Highlights Camera Misplacement
• Workshop Greenscreen and Work Shop Island Bugs
• Map Bugs
• Echo Voice Line Bug
• Total Mayhem Hero Unlock Challenge Bug
• Match History and Replay Bug

All Known Bugs, Errors, and Issues

Long Queues and Servers Down Frequently

During the first few days of launch, Overwatch 2 experienced a plethora of server related issues. The servers have since become much more efficient and consistent after several maintenances, patches and potential the launch day hype beginning to quell. Here is a brief list of all of the server related problems in week one of Overwatch 2:

• Long Queue Times- On launch day the lucky players who were actually able to enter the game, were forced to wait anywhere between half an hour to upwards of 3 hours, in queues of more than 40,000 people. The average wait time has since come down greatly, with many players able to consistently enter the game within one minute of waiting.
• 0 players in Queue Bug- This has now been patched, however this was a visual bug affecting many players. The queue would jump from an exorbitantly large number in the 10's of thousands, to zero and back again, causing a great deal of confusion and anger for players. This bug was said to be a visual bug, where the game got confused between the in-game queue and server queue, resulting in these jumps in numbers.
• DDos Attacks- No less than 3 DDos attacks added to Overwatch 2's server stress. A DDos attack is when a malicious 3rd party floods a server with bot accounts in order to limit their operations and deny access to real users.
• Server Maintenances- In order to fix server related errors and speed up the overall queue process, sever server maintenances were undertaken in week one of Overwatch 2. These appear to have been largely successful overall, with many of the server issues resolved and much faster queues since completion.
• Error Code LC-208, Error Code BC-153 and Error Code BN-043- These were 3 common error codes that players were experiencing when queueing for Overwatch 2. When one of these error codes appeared, it would result in a disconnect from the queue and players were forced to queue again (often only to encounter the same error code immediately). Since completion of the most recent server maintenances, these errors appear to have mostly resolved.

Server Status Checker

Current State of Overwatch 2

Servers are Fast and Reliable

The current wait time for Overwatch 2's servers is very reasonable. Players are generally waiting less than 1 minute to enter the game and less than 3 minutes to find a match. Some players are still reportedly being disconnected from matches upon unlocking achievements on console or randomly mid-match, but these appear to be uncommon exceptions.

Many Bugs Fixed

Many of the data and server related bugs have been patched. Players who were affected by these bugs have been compensated through refunds (for players who repurchased items they should have already owned), faster rank progression (for players who were stuck on Bronze 5) and bonuses, including a free legendary skin, weapon charm and 2x XP weekends for all players.

Hero Balance is Reasonable

In Blizzards most recent developer update they go into detail about their current thoughts on the balance of heroes in Overwatch 2, as well as potential changes for Season 2. Heroes that were strongly suggested to be in line for balancing nerfs going in to Season 2 were Kiriko, Genji, Zarya and Sombra.

D.Va and Junker Queen were also said to be 2 heroes that they are watching closely for potential nerfing. The only hero stated to be in consideration for buffs was Doomfist. Overall the stated play and win rate for most heroes was around the 50% mark, indicated general well balance overall.
Developer Update #6

Season 1 Overview

Season 1 Battle Pass Start and End Dates

Battle Pass Season 1 started on Overwatch 2's launch date of October 4, 2022. The Season lasts until December 6, 2022, which is when Season 2 is scheduled to begin.

Content Roadmap: All Upcoming Updates

New Heroes

Overwatch 2 Season 1 introduced 3 new heroes, 1 of each in the Tank, Damage and Support Class. These are Sojourn(Damage), Junker Queen(Tank) and Kiriko(Support)

Sojourn

Sojourn (Vivian Chase)
	Role	Damage
	Ranking
	Total HP	・ 200 ・ 200 (Base Health)
	Voice Actor	Cherise Boothe
	Nationality	Canadian
Affiliations	Canadian Special Forces (formerly), Overwatch (formerly)

Sojourn Profile and Weapon Abilities

Junker Queen

Junker Queen (Odessa "Dez" Stone)
	Role	Tank
	Ranking
	Total HP	・ 425 ・ 425 (Base Health)
	Voice Actor	Leah De Niese
	Nationality	Australian
Affiliations	Junkers

Junker Queen Profile and Weapon Abilities

Kiriko

Kiriko (Kiriko Kamori)
	Role	Support
	Ranking
	Total HP	・ 200 ・ 200 (Base Health)
	Voice Actor	Sally Amaki
	Nationality	Japanese
Affiliations	Yokai

Kiriko Profile and Weapon Abilities

New Maps

Overwatch 2 introduced 6 new maps with the start of Season 1. Some of these maps are mode specific, while others are hybrids. Here is a complete list of the new maps.

Push Mode

3 of the new maps fall under the new Push Mode category. These are New Queen Street, Colosseo and Esperança, based on Toronto, Rome and Portugal respectively.

New Queen Street	Colosseo
Esperança

Hybrid Mode

2 of the new maps introduced in Season 1 are Hybrids. These are Midtown and Paraíso, based on New York and Rio de Janeiro respectively.

Midtown

Paraíso

Escort Mode

The final map introduced in Season 1 is an Escort Mode map. It is called Circuit Royal and is based on Monte Carlo.

Circuit Royal

List of All Maps

New Game Mode- Push Mode

Control and Push the Barricade

Push maps in Overwatch 2 feature two barricades, one for each team, and the TS-1 Robot in the center of the map, which two teams fight for control over. Once a team captures TS-1, the robot will start pushing that team's barricade towards their enemy team's base.

Push games are won by pushing your team's barricade all the way to the enemy team's base or by shoving it the farthest once the map's timer runs out.
List of All Push Maps

New Mythic Skin Category

In Season 1 of Overwatch 2 a new category of skins called mythic was added. This is a rarity above legendary and features level of customization and detail not seen previously. All players who complete the Season 1 Battle Pass can unlock the new Genji mythic skin.

Season 1 Skins

EDM Tier 1 | Premium Legendary D.Va Skin	Tactical Tier 10 | Free Epic Winston Skin
Hinotori Tier 20 | Premium Legendary Kiriko Skin	Commando Tier 30 | Premium Legendary Sojourn Skin
Beast Hunter Tier 40 | Premium Epic Junker Queen Skin	Miko Tier 50 | Premium Legendary Mercy Skin
Sky Centurion Tier 60 | Premium Legendary Pharah Skin	Forest Ranger Tier 70 | Free Epic Cassidy Skin
Cyber Demon Tier 80 | Premium Mythic Genji Skin

Season 1 Battle Pass Full Details

New Souvenir Collectible Category

Souvenirs are a new category of collectible in Overwatch 2. These are small items that your hero can hold and display to allies, similarly to emotes. Just like Weapon Charms, all heroes have access to the same Souvenirs.

There are currently 10 souvenirs available either through Battle Pass rewards or the in-game store. The price of each souvenir available in store is currently 500 coins. It is worth noting that Battle Pass reward souvenirs are exclusive to the Battle Pass and cannot be purchased in store.

Store Souvenirs

All Store Souvenirs in Overwatch 2
GG	Heart
King's Payload	Salty
Trophy

Battle Pass Souvenirs

All BattlePass Souvenirs in Overwatch 2
Mechanical Brain	Folded Crane
Pineapple Pizza	Puzzle Cube
Robo Thumb

How to Get and Use Souvenirs

Halloween Terror Event Upcoming

Junkenstein's Revenge: Wrath of the Bride (2022)

The 2022 Halloween Terror Event is scheduled to begin on October 25 and conclude on November 8, 2022. This year a new game mode, Junkenstein's Revenge: Wrath of the Bride will be introduced. This game mode is expected to feature Sombra as the antagonist and Sojourn, Kiriko, Junker Queen and Ashe as playable heroes.
Halloween Terror Event (2022)
Junkenstein's Revenge: Wrath of the Bride

Hints of What to Expect in Season 2

Hero Balancing

Kiriko

Kiriko was stated to be the most popular hero at launch, with a play rate of 75%. This has apparently since tapered off, however Kiriko's win rate has been gradually increasing. Kiriko's healing prowess was stated to be middle of the pack, while her damage output is on the lower end, meaning these two aspects are likely not in need of an update.

Her evasiveness and speed were said to be her greatest assets, meaning this may be the area Blizzard focuses on if it is to introduce any nerfs or adjustments to Kiriko in Season 2.

Genji

Genji has been over-performing in both popularity and win-percentage in the damage role. Blizzard are keeping a close eye on Genji's performance, so we may see nerfs or adjustments to him for Season 2.

Sombra

Sombra's Hack ability is too powerful in Season 1 of Overwatch 2. Players are said to not have enough time to react and break free once they have been hacked by Sombra. This is reportedly impacting tanks the most. Sombra is therefore slated for a balancing patch to nerf her Hack ability in Season 2.

Zarya

Zarya's latest buff to her Particle Barrier, which allows her to choose where to place both of them, is an area of concern for the Blizzard Development Team. She is able to build up energy much more quickly than previously. This may be nerfed in Season 2.

Doomfist

As the lowest performer in the tank class, Doomfist has buffs in line for his durability, as well as his Meteor Strike and Power Block abilities.

List of All Heroes

Map Rotation

There will be some changes to how maps work from Season 2 of Overwatch 2. This will include rotations of maps, as well as slight modifications to returning maps each season. Maps will be rotating every season. Some of the maps featured in the current season will fall out of rotation in the new season, being replaced by maps that were not featured that season. Maps that are not currently in rotation will still be available to select in Custom games and through the Arcade mode.

Each time a map returns to the rotation, there may be updates made to it. This could be in the form of new areas, extra coverage points, or the expansion or shrinkage of the overall map size. One of the maps returning next season will be Rialto, which will have extra coverage points added.
List of All Maps

Competitive Updates

Next season, the presentation and celebration aspects of skill tier, division and ranking up, are slated for some improvements. Blizzard also reaffirmed their overall commitment to the continued improvement of the competitive system.
How to Download Overwatch 2!

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