There are more things to watch out for besides Blizzard’s anti-tank 5v5 switch.
Sorry, the old Overwatch is unable to call you at this time. She’s gone. She will be replaced by Overwatch 2 at 3 p.m. EST today, October 4, and the days of 6v6 and characters who could roam freely without being hidden behind a battle pass are long gone.
You undoubtedly have some inquiries. When you learn that a body double with a nerfed butt has been used in place of one of your games, this is a normal reaction. It’s normal that you’re nervous, but you should be prepared in case you need to start working on this year’s “Top 5 Butts In Overwatch” YouTube video right away. I’ve put together a list of seven gameplay changes to be aware of before you pick up Overwatch 2 for the first time to help you through this challenging (though, relative to a real problem, still incredibly fun) transition.
Prepare your phone number.
Before you can experience any of Overwatch 2’s revamped gameplay, you’ll need to be prepared with a functional phone number. On September 27, game creator Blizzard revealed that all players would have to connect a non-VOIP, non-prepaid phone number to their battle.net account in order to prevent “disruptive gaming.” Blizzard also means all gamers when it says it, including those who played on consoles and those who owned a physical copy of Overwatch.
Be advised that Blizzard intends to record players so they can “automatically transcribe it through speech to text programmes” to produce a temporary voice chat recording of a reported player.
The audio recording is swiftly discarded after it has been converted to text because its only use is to spot potentially disruptive behaviour, according to Blizzard. After the audio transcription, the text file is then erased no later than 30 days afterwards. Because voice chat data is not permanently stored, this system depends on players reporting disruptive behaviour as soon as they see it in-game.
Newcomers are indulged (unless they give Blizzard money)
Any accounts created on or after October 4 will be subject to the First Time User Experience, according to a new strategy being tested by Blizzard to soften the first Overwatch 2 experience and deter cheating (FTUE).
The FTUE will place restrictions on new accounts by:
initial account restrictions, such as restricted game types and heroes, are enforced. In order to unlock Competitive mode, FTUE players must first finish 50 Quick Play matches.
requiring them to go through two phases: the first one opens all game modes and in-game chat, while the second one necessitates finishing about 100 matches and unlocks all classic Overwatch heroes
Despite the fact that Overwatch 2 is supposedly free to play, anyone who bought the Watchpoint Pack, a $39.99 content collection that included a Premium Battle Pass for Season 1, iconic hero skins, virtual cash, and more, would enigmatically dodge FTUE. Similar to this, Blizzard appears to have taken the Pack off its website (but console websites continue to offer it).
Welcome to Overwatch’s 5v5 mode, though.
Since the beta version of Overwatch 2’s main gameplay debuted this summer, you may have been anticipating it to move the shooter away from its 6v6 structure and into more conventional 5v5 territory. Please use this as a reminder that it is indeed present and taking place.
Teams will lose one tank in 5v5, leaving them with just one as opposed to their previous two. Teams will consequently be more susceptible to injury, players will need to be more strategic, and tanks will need to play as thick and steadfastly as ever.
