Overwatch 2 will be releasing later today in a number of hours in fact. You can officially watch the counter go down when 8 PM hits, and some players can jump right into the action with a pre-download of it that will become available in less than an hour now. Here’s how to do that.
Everything you need to do before Overwatch 2’s launch
The pre-download for Overwatch 2 on consoles will become available at 11 AM CT. PC players will already have this option available to them. However, to pre-download of either platform, players will have had to either already played the original Overwatch on the platform or account that they have been using or have purchased the Overwatch 2 Watchpoint Pack. If you do not have either, you will unfortunately have to wait for the game’s launch and download from there.
Either way, to ensure that everything goes as smooth sailing as possible on your end and not if the servers get overcrowded, make sure that you have filled in your mobile number on your Battle.net account. You will need to receive a text from Blizzard to confirm your attempted login each time from now on so having this already in place when Overwatch 2 launches will save a lot of time in getting back into the action.
Pre-downloading Overwatch 2 on PC and console
Pre-downloading Overwatch 2 on PC or console may require different steps but it’s just as straightforward as the other. For the Blizzard.net launcher used when starting up Overwatch on a PC, its updates are usually set to automatic, so PC players should already have the game installed. If this is not the case and your set-up has updates disabled, simply click on the gear icon next to the Play button for Overwatch and check that it is its most recent updated version.
In any case, ensure that you have enough space for either game to install. For PC, this is around 50 GB and for consoles (including the PlayStation, Switch and Xbox), this is around 20-30 GB. As long as you already have Overwatch still installed on your console, this is a simple start up your console and allow the update to commence on its own as Overwatch 2 will replace Overwatch once the update completes. If you do not have Overwatch still installed on your console, simply head to the store page of your chosen console and wait for 11 AM CT to hit — which is less than an hour’s time at the point of writing this!
For everyone new to the Overwatch world, you’ll have to wait for its exact release time to even begin downloading and installing the game. That is in less than four hours from now at 8 PM where all of us will be joining in on the fun and celebrations.
