The final hours of Overwatch 1: an unhinged sendoff for a multiplayer legend

gamesradar.com:

It's 11:48 am on Monday, October 3, and I can't play Overwatch 1 anymore. Bizarrely, the chat is still going, ticking away in the bottom left corner even though I can't navigate past the main menu. "I hope you have a nice Christmas," reads one message. "When do they shut the servers?" a chatter asks. "I want to see the Easter egg." Several players start spamming "good game" messages in the chat, while many more attempt to sneak curses past Blizzard's filter.  "**** this ******* game" is the last message I read. 

At 12:01 pm, I'm booted to the start screen, where I'm informed that the servers are offline to prepare for the launch of Overwatch 2. And thus ends the legacy of Overwatch 1, littered with curse words, a mix of sarcastic and serious "gg" spam, and confusion - but no Easter egg. What a weird, fitting ending for the game. 

I spent most of the last weekend of Overwatch 1 playing competitive mode, joining squads looking for healers or queueing up as a flex player with one of my friends. A few of my teammates were shocked to learn that the game was shutting down, while others were aware of its mortality but not of its time of death. "Wait, I only have a day left?" one asked incredulously over voice chat. "What the hell, that sucks!" 

Overwatch 1 competitive mode has always been an interesting experience. Although I love to play high-stakes games and prefer it over quick play mode, it can get incredibly toxic. Naturally, the last few days of Overwatch 1 comp had its fair share of quitters who were unbothered by the hit their ranks would take by dropping out of matches early. Several of my matches ended with my team waving at one or two remaining enemy players, their teammates having left them mid-match, a chorus of