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After a long wait, Blizzard has finally announced the start of its multiplayer beta for Overwatch 2, but prospective players are finding themselves unable to sign up for the experience. The sequel to Blizzard’s iconic hero shooter was first revealed in 2019, and since then, fans have been subjected to a slow trickle of information as they wait for more substantial updates.

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This wait has been heightened by delays and substantial studio shakeups. It was confirmed in November that the game would be releasing later than originally planned, but no firm date was ever given, either for the full release or for any playable beta version of the game. In February, leaks began to appear suggesting that Overwatch 2‘s playable beta could appear in March, but these were unconfirmed. Now it seems these leaks were just shy of the mark.

On March 10th, the official Overwatch Twitter account confirmed that a playable beta of Overwatch 2 will be launching in late April. While no definitive start date has been given, signups are ostensibly open for players who’d like to take part in the early access period. However, at the time of this writing, the signup link provided in the Overwatch tweet sends users straight to a message stating that Blizzard’s websites are currently undergoing maintenance. This means that despite the promises made by the tweet, no one can currently sign up for the Overwatch 2 beta.

Website difficulties aren’t the only problem facing the Overwatch IP lately. In January it was revealed that LEGO had delayed an Overwatch 2 set due to the legal difficulties currently surrounding developer Activision Blizzard. The set, which would have allowed fans to construct a colossal Titan robot, was meant to go on sale on February 1st, but at the time of this writing, it is still not available, and there has been no word on when it will be released.

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Blizzard has promised a lot of new features and changes coming to Overwatch 2 in order to differ it from its predecessor; the fact that much of the new game’s content will be freely available to owners of the original has had some calling it more of an expansion or DLC than a wholly new game, so changes like these are welcome. Some updates, like a substantial rework to Overwatch‘s Bastion, have already been revealed, but there are sure to be many surprises that Blizzard has yet to reveal. Assuming the company’s website maintenance ends in time, fans won’t have much longer to wait before they can start learning Overwatch 2‘s secrets for themselves.

Source: Overwatch/Twitter

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Peter Morics
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Peter has been playing video games ever since he was a child, pulling his chair up to the TV so he could hold the GameCube controller for Wind Waker. Video games have been a vital part of his life ever since. They’ve been an important piece of his academic career as well; at the University of Redlands, where he studied Creative Writing and Theater, he once submitted a philosophy paper on the video game Soma. Today, in addition to his freelance work for Screen Rant, Peter spends most of his time blogging, playing Dungeons & Dragons, and, of course, playing video games. He believes that video games are an important and oft overlooked medium for telling stories, as well as an excellent medium for having fun. His favorite video game is still Wind Waker, the one that started it all, and he credits the fun he had with that game as the reason he’s here writing for Screen Rant today.

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