Overwatch 2 goes into beta in April, Blizzard now plans to release PvP portion sooner

polygon.com:

Overwatch 2 is now playable in a newly launched closed alpha test, Blizzard Entertainment announced Thursday. A playable beta test for Overwatch 2, aimed at a larger group of players, will launch on PC in “late April.”

Blizzard says it’s changing its release plan for Overwatch2, “decoupling” the game’s PvP and PvE elements in an attempt to get the sequel’s competitive multiplayer content into players’ hands sooner while it continues to work on single-player and cooperative content.

Overwatch game director Aaron Keller announced the change in strategy for Overwatch 2 in an update Thursday. He revealed that the new alpha test will be playable by “Blizzard employees, Overwatch League pros, and a few other select groups,” while the forthcoming beta will launch in all regions for a bigger, but still closed, audience.

“This closed beta will include a larger group of testers who we will ask to provide gameplay feedback,” Keller said. “Our goal for this phase is to test our new features, content, and systems before we shift to stress-testing the servers with a wider player base in future Beta tests.”

Players can sign up to take part in the beta on the game’s website.

Keller described Overwatch 2’s first PvP beta as “the most significant release we’ve had since our launch.” It will include Overwatch’s first new hero in nearly two years, the damage hero Sojourn. Blizzard also promises new hero reworks, some of which have been revealed over the past year as the developer transitions Overwatch competitive multiplayer from a 6v6 structure to a 5v5 one.

The beta will also include the new game mode, Push, that debuted at BlizzCon 2019, and four new multiplayer maps: New York City, Rome, Toronto, and Monte Carlo. Here’s an updated look