Highly anticipated: Overwatch took the multiplayer shooter genre by storm when it launched in 2016. It quickly grew in popularity and has since become a worldwide phenomenon, with entire eSports leagues and teams sprouting up around it. However, developer Blizzard Entertainment has seen fit to develop a sequel, Overwatch 2, which is officially receiving its first-ever semi-public beta next month.
Come April 26, Overwatch fans will finally be able to take the game’s sequel for a spin. That’s great news, too: after years of development (Overwatch 2 was first announced in 2019) and ongoing turmoil at Activision Blizzard HQ, the title’s future seemed to be in limbo for a time. However, it looks like development has forged ahead despite Blizzard’s troubles.
Overwatch 2 doesn’t have a full release date yet, but you can sign up for the first-ever closed beta today and cross your fingers that you’ll be one of the lucky few selected. This beta is only available to PC players, but Blizzard says there will be console betas in the future.
Beta invites are going out via email right now for anyone with a copy of Overwatch and an unsuspended Battle.net account. Blizzard doesn’t have any strict selection criteria for the beta — it says it’s picking users based on their PC hardware specs, when they signed up, and their Battle.net region. Presumably, Blizzard wants a nice mix of players to determine how well the game runs on a variety of PC configurations.
— Overwatch (@PlayOverwatch) March 18, 2022
Speaking of how well the game runs, Blizzard has also released the beta’s official system requirements. The “Minimum” requirements target 30 FPS and are as follows:
- Operating system: Windows® 7 / Windows® 8 / Windows® 10 64-bit (latest Service Pack)
- Processor: Intel® Core™ i3 or AMD Phenom™ X3 8650
- Video: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 600 series, AMD Radeon™ HD 7000 series
- Memory: 6 GB RAM
- Storage: 50 GB available hard drive space
The “Recommended” requirements target 60 FPS and Medium settings:
- Operating system: Windows® 10 64-bit (latest Service Pack)
- Processor: Intel® Core™ i7 or AMD Ryzen™ 5
- Video: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1060 or AMD R9 380
- Memory: 8 GB RAM
- Storage: 50 GB available hard drive space
Those aren’t especially demanding requirements, and even those with lower-end hardware could probably eke out a 60 FPS experience by dropping Overwatch 2’s settings from Medium to Low. It’s unclear whether these requirements will change for Overwatch 2’s full release or remain the same.
Overwatch 2’s beta will be PvP-only, so don’t expect to see any of the game’s coop content on April 26. Blizzard will likely either save that for release or hold a separate beta to test out those systems.