Overwatch Beta Starts This Month

[Steven Bogos]

Overwatch Beta Starts This Month

A limited closed beta for the Overwatch will kick off on October 27, with large-scale "stress tests" to follow.

Overwatch [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/tag/view/overwatch] was Blizzard's big surprise from last year's BlizzCon - a TF2-esque shooter that blends in elements of the MOBA genre. Now, it looks like some lucky gamers will finally be able to get their hands on it, as Blizzard has announced that the closed beta for Overwatch will kick off on October 27.

"The Closed Beta will be composed of a small number of testers who will have regular access to our public beta test. Our goal for the Closed Beta is 100% gameplay feedback, and we'll be encouraging participants to discuss and dissect every hero, map, ability, and other aspect of the game on our upcoming beta forums," wrote Blizzard [http://us.battle.net/overwatch/en/blog/19919176/overwatch-beta-coming-soon-10-14-2015].

Additionally, if you're not one of the lucky few to get into the closed beta, Blizzard will also occasionally hold a "Beta Test Weekend" for the game, in which the floodgates will be opened to all in order to stress test the game's infrastructure. "These larger-scale Beta Test Weekends will be brought online occasionally for a limited time, generally over a weekend, and will run concurrently with our ongoing Closed Beta test," explained Blizzard, adding "The first Beta Test Weekend is currently slated for after BlizzCon".

If you're interested in signing up for the beta, you can do so by clicking this link [http://blizz.ly/JoinOverwatch]. The only requirements for the beta are a Windows PC with the battle.net launcher installed.

Blizzard said it would have more information, including a full FAQ, as we get closer to October 27.

Source: Blizzard [http://us.battle.net/overwatch/en/blog/19919176/overwatch-beta-coming-soon-10-14-2015]

Permalink

 

[thewatergamer]

Meh, ever since the announcement about no dedicated private servers or whatever it was I've largely stopped caring about the game, if they reversed that decision then I'll consider giving it a shot

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

Meh, ever since the announcement about no dedicated private servers or whatever it was I've largely stopped caring about the game, if they reversed that decision then I'll consider giving it a shot

This, pretty much. For a game that gets compared to TF2 all the time, not including dedicated servers is mental. Why would PC gamers play it? Because it's a Blizzard game? It's a new IP. It's not Warcraft or Diablo. It's just another shooter, only this time a PC arena shooter with no dedicated servers. No thank you.

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

Well, at least we can expect Blizzard to treat a beta test as an actual beta test, rather than a glorified early-access deal where there's no real plans to change anything substantial before release.

 

[sonicneedslovetoo]

Well, at least we can expect Blizzard to treat a beta test as an actual beta test, rather than a glorified early-access deal where there's no real plans to change anything substantial before release.

That would imply that Blizzard would actually change anything barring massive public outcry, even then I don't think they'd change anything. I mean they're blizzard if there was an award for not listening they would ignore it and tell everybody that there will be no offline mode for Diablo 3.

 

[RebornKusabi]

Unlike I guess everyone else here, I am actually quite excited for this. I was never able to get into Team Fortress 2 or Counter-Strike, because I didn't have a gaming PC until my mid-to-late 20's, but I was able to play things like Diablo 1 and 2 (and Starcraft, and Warcraft) on our family computer (re: piece of **** Packard Bell garbage or E-Machine monstrosity) and I was finally able to play TF 2 and Counter-Strike while in college, and was terrible at them both, but I trust Blizzard to make a great game and I want a good meaty multiplayer shooter on PC. That isn't Counter-Strike or Team Fortress 2, because I don't go negative k/d in them- I literally black hole my whole team into the ether which is sad because I am quite good at shooters blah blah blah. I'm a console baby at heart and the lack of dedicated servers doesn't bother me, period. I honestly just select random servers, literally by ping and/or map, on Killing Floor and TF 2 or use quick match for TF 2.

I don't know- maybe it's getting older but I love games and not having dedicated servers doesn't bother me much as a console baby. Interested to hear what others think though!

 

[Redryhno]

Meh, ever since the announcement about no dedicated private servers or whatever it was I've largely stopped caring about the game, if they reversed that decision then I'll consider giving it a shot

This, pretty much. For a game that gets compared to TF2 all the time, not including dedicated servers is mental. Why would PC gamers play it? Because it's a Blizzard game? It's a new IP. It's not Warcraft or Diablo. It's just another shooter, only this time a PC arena shooter with no dedicated servers. No thank you.

Well, like some youtubers say, Blizzard games are mainly played by Blizzard fans. They just orbit around the monstrosity that is WoW and make pit stops at their other releases before being pulled back into it. So it really doesn't matter to them, they will still get buttloads of money and anyone that criticizes them will be ignored until Diablo3's bullshit server lockout happens for two weeks after release...and then promptly forgotten and completely forgiven because "OOH SHINY".

I don't know- maybe it's getting older but I love games and not having dedicated servers doesn't bother me much as a console baby. Interested to hear what others think though!

Well, part of the reason for dedicated servers is that it sorta has a bit of a ring of hypocrisy from them. People were asking about FOV sliders(because I think it was locked at like 80) a few months ago, and they said they didn't want to give people a competitive advantage, so they weren't going to implement that. Don't know if they came to their senses on that, but the thing here is that they ARE giving people a competitive advantage that isn't just seeing more on your screen, they're giving some people a two-second advantage because they're hosting(or semi-hosting, I"m not exactly sure of the specifics), and with alot of their characters seeming to have some measure of precise play needed, it means they won't be able to be played to their fullest potential if you aren't close enough to their servers.(and if HOTS is any indication, Blizz doesn't really know how to fix their shit if it's broken)

 

[Shinkicker444]

When they say no private dedicated servers, they are talking about ones run by random people. They will still have dedicated servers, they will just be run by Blizzard. The same as HotS for example. They're not going to go the way of CoD and use P2P gaming which some people seem to be implying. Blizzard, these days, is too paranoid and tight-fisted to let anyone else get control of their stuff.

Correct me if I am wrong, but that is what would make sense.

I hope to get into the beta, but I suspect it will go the usual way where one particular person I know gets in (on the alpha level usually) yet never play it and I'm stuck waiting till open beta or release.

 

[Redryhno]

When they say no private dedicated servers, they are talking about ones run by random people. They will still have dedicated servers, they will just be run by Blizzard. The same as HotS for example. They're not going to go the way of CoD and use P2P gaming which some people seem to be implying.

Correct me if I am wrong, but that is what would make sense.

I hope to get into the beta, but I suspect it will go the usual way where one particular person I know gets in (on the alpha level usually) yet never play it and I'm stuck waiting till open beta or release.

Oh....I must've read that wrong then...I take back what I said then with the exception of Blizz not fixing their annoying infrastructure problems. Though I will say that it's somewhat disappointing that there's no private servers, my favorite matches of TF2 have pretty much always been on private servers.

 

[scotth266]

Meh, ever since the announcement about no dedicated private servers or whatever it was I've largely stopped caring about the game, if they reversed that decision then I'll consider giving it a shot

This, pretty much. For a game that gets compared to TF2 all the time, not including dedicated servers is mental. Why would PC gamers play it? Because it's a Blizzard game? It's a new IP. It's not Warcraft or Diablo. It's just another shooter, only this time a PC arena shooter with no dedicated servers. No thank you.

When you say "dedicated servers" do you actually mean dedicated servers, or private ones? Because when I did some Google-Fu I kept running across stories about how Overwatch WILL feature dedicated servers, but not private ones. Indeed, I'd be puzzled if Overwatch DIDN'T have dedicated servers given how Blizzard uses them for pretty much every other game they run these days.

I enjoy private servers sometimes but don't think they're necessary, just a nice feature. Dedicated servers on the other hand... well, let me put it this way: Gears of War convinced me of their necessity.