Overwatch 2 Event Announced for June 16th

Following the end of its closed PvP beta for Overwatch 2, the development team at Blizzard have announced a new event on June 16th. It will share more details on “what comes next” for the title.

On behalf of the team, Game director Aaron Keller thanked those who participated, noting that, “It was so exciting to see our community playing our game. The enthusiasm for this game and this universe means so much to us, it always has, and it always will.

“Overwatch as a world, as a universe, is deeply personal to the team; something that we pour our time, creative energies and passion into. It can be scary putting something that means so much to you out there for other people to look at. Especially when you know that it’s not finished and you’re asking for people’s real and valid criticisms of what you’ve made.

“But the reason we do it is important – to make a better game, and it’s our players and our community that make it possible. Tests like this are a vital part of the process of improving Overwatch. We can’t wait to take everything we’ve learned from the beta and apply it to the game, and we’re so excited to get it back in front of you.”

More details on the next phase of testing will also be shared in the future. The recent closed beta offered access to four new maps – Midtown, New Queen Street, Circuit Royal and Colosseo – along with a new hero in Sojourn. A new mode, Push, was also playable and several heroes like Sombra, Doomfist, Orisa and Bastion received significant reworks.

This is in addition to smaller changes like Mei’s primary fire no longer freezing, Cassidy’s Flashbang being replaced with a sticky bomb, Reinhardt having two Firestrike charges and much more. Blizzard had previously confirmed that public beta testing would arrive later this year with new maps, heroes and other features. Perhaps next month’s event will offer new information, if not provide an update on PvE.

Stay tuned for more details and in the meantime, check out our nine big takeaways from the beta here.