Overwatch 1’s Last Day Will Be October 2, Blizzard Confirms

The last day of Overwatch 1 will be October 2, Blizzard told me during an Overwatch 2 panel interview last night. (Note: This is from a Pacific Time perspective. With time differences, it could be October 3 elsewhere in the world.) Overwatch 2 will then launch on October 4 and will be the only running Overwatch game.

“So about a day before the launch of Overwatch 2, we’re going to take down the Overwatch 1 servers,” sales manager Jon Spector explained to me. “So that means, in practice, October 2 is really the last day to come in and play Overwatch 1. And then it’s a 27-hour downtime that we’re planning in order to get the Overwatch 2 server up and functioning.

“We’ll be giving current Overwatch players the option to download Overwatch 2 shortly before launch, if they want to pre-download. There are also a few things we’ll be asking players to do, to prepare for Overwatch 2. We’ll be sharing some sort of launch checklist with players ahead of things so they have a smooth experience entering October 4, when we launch.

“So it’s basically October 2, Overwatch 1 has its last day; we’re down for 27 hours to give our team a chance to update all the servers to make sure the backend supporting the launch of Overwatch 2 is ready to go, and then players can enter on October 4. And if they already have Overwatch 1, they will receive Overwatch 2 as an update from a system perspective. Update the game to Overwatch 2″ as an option on your PC or console. If you are a new player, on October 4th you will see the option to enter and download and play Overwatch 2 for free.”

The move to free-to-play for Overwatch 2 has huge ramifications for the game. Loot boxes are gone completely, for example, and in their place are a battle pass and an in-game store – both things I talked to Blizzard at length about last night.

As mentioned several times, Overwatch 2 will launch on October 4 on PC, Xbox, PlayStation, and Switch.