Skip to main content

Overwatch 2 is getting a second beta this month featuring its new hero

After announcing a definite release date and the all-new hero Junker Queen, Overwatch 2 is ready for a second beta. According to its official Twitter page, Overwatch 2 is coming back to consoles and PC for an extended beta test on June 28 that will feature a new map and playable character.

#Overwatch2 Beta begins June 28

🎮 PC & Console
👑 Junker Queen & a New Map
✋ Sign-Ups & more details coming June 16 pic.twitter.com/XPJOhfeVjE

— Overwatch (@PlayOverwatch) June 14, 2022

Overwatch 2 first beta came and went in April and gained its fair share of praise and criticism. We at Digital Trends saw it as a return to glory, but one without any true new additions. At the time, we noted that it felt more like “Overwatch 1.5.”

It’s unlikely that Blizzard will offer anything big enough in the follow-up to change the initial takeaway from the first beta. However, with a new hero and map, it’ll be hard to resist for fans of the hero shooter.

Like the previous beta, those that want to participate have to sign up earlier and hope that they find an invite code to the festivities in their inbox before the beta begins. No specifics about signing up have been  announced as of yet, but it’s expected to mirror the first beta’s prerequisites.

The second Overwatch 2 beta begins on June 28. Players hoping to sign up will be waiting until Thursday, June 16 to find out how they can get in on the early action.

Those that don’t make it in this time shouldn’t fret too much. Overwatch 2‘s free-to-play player-vs-player mode is set to launch on October 4. That isn’t too much waiting time for anyone that gets left out.

DeAngelo Epps
Former Digital Trends Contributor
De'Angelo Epps is a gaming writer passionate about the culture, communities, and industry surrounding gaming. His work ranges…
Slay the Spire 2 is coming to early access next year with a new hero
Key art for Slay the Spire 2.

MegaCrit Games announced Slay the Spire 2 during the Triple-i Initiative Showcase.

Slay the Spire 2 was revealed with an animated trailer that shows three warriors returning to the spire as they prepare to ascend it once again. This trailer confirms that The Ironclad and The Silent will be making a comeback. The third character is a lich called The Necrobinder. An in-game screenshot provides more context on this new character, saying that they are "a wandering lich who seeks to bind the forgotten corpse" and that they have the help of a giant bony left hand called Osty in battle.

Read more
Overwatch 2’s story-driven PvE missions are being abandoned by Blizzard
A giant turret in set up in Gothenburg in Overwatch 2's story missions.

Overwatch 2 finally got some of its long-awaited PvE content last August, but it doesn't look like more is on the way, according to some new reports.

Earlier this week, a story from Kotaku indicated that the future of Overwatch 2's story-driven PvE missions was in question after the first batch of missions, which were released as paid DLC for a free-to-play game and sold poorly. Now, a new report from Bloomberg affirms that. As part of a newsletter outlining wider frustrations Blizzard's developers have with how the company ties profit-sharing bonuses to the performance of games that specific teams make, Bloomberg touched on how the Overwatch 2 team's bonuses were negatively impacted by the failure of the PvE content. A lot of that PvE team was apparently laid off in January when Microsoft cut 1,900 games-related jobs, and sources now tell Bloomberg that Blizzard does not plan to finish its previously planned PvE content.

Read more
Xbox Game Pass gets its first Activision Blizzard game very soon
xbox game pass march games diablo 4 iv

Microsoft unveiled the batch of titles coming to its gaming subscription service throughout the back half of March. Quite a few awesome titles are making their way to the service, but by far, the most notable addition is Diablo IV, the first Activision Blizzard game being made available on Xbox Game Pass.

Diablo IV was released in June 2023, just a few months before Microsoft completed its acquisition of Activision Blizzard. It's the latest entry in a long-running isometric RPG series, and it retains the same engaging dungeon design, deep progression systems, and captivating loot loop that makes games in this franchise special. People have been wondering when Activision Blizzard games would arrive on Xbox Game Pass in the months since the acquisition process was completed, and Diablo IV was finally confirmed to be coming to the service on March 28 last month.

Read more