Overwatch has its best days long behind it. So it’s about time that Blizzard’s team shooter is fed with some love and content so that it doesn’t completely die. Blizzard’s strategy here is not to upgrade the original game and provide it with new content, but to create an Overwatch successor that will basically be an optimized Overwatch with new story missions.

At BlizzConline, Blizzard did not reveal any information about Overwatch 2 in the opening ceremony. There, the focus was on World of WarCraft, Hearthstone and Diablo. Instead, Blizzard showed all waiting shooter fans a video in which some Overwatch developers give a look behind the scenes and reveal first information about Overwatch 2. Even the first gameplay was shown there.

Jeff Kaplan and his crew introduce the new maps “Rome”, “Paris” and “New York”, show character revisions, new weapons and introduce the upcoming hero missions in this almost 40-minute video.

This is what Rome will look like in Overwatch 2. ROMantic, isn’t it?

Big, gray skyscrapers? That must be New York!

In the character revisions, McCree makes the start. He gets a longer beard. After such a long time until news about Overwatch 2, it is not surprising that the beard is a few centimeters longer.

Pharah is virtually buffed, because she can now look through her visor. Of course, this optical change doesn’t affect the gameplay and the heroine doesn’t get stronger as a result, but we can now see her face and look into her eyes when she crushes us from above with her rocket launcher.

Reaper has now adopted a metal face cover instead of his white bone mask. It looks more noble and is a much more useful material for combat.

Widowmaker has secured the last appointment at the styling salon. There she gets her hair braided, a new outfit with nicer details put on and a lighter and more open helmet. The whole thing offers more cyberpunk and less open bust.

In the video, more details such as the PvP and PvE philosophy, changes to more characters, gameplay feel and first impressions of the story are described. Overwatch 2 is supposed to have a sequel character and not just feel like a DLC.

“We really want Overwatch 2 to feel like the next evolution, a true sequel to the first game, not an add-on. It’s not a small part, it’s not an expansion of the original game. It’s an evolution and a replacement of the original game, and I think that’s exciting,” Kaplan says.

Although many of you may have been waiting for this, a release date was not announced at BlizzConline. Blizzard already announced in early February that Overwatch 2 (and Diablo 4) are not expected before 2022. So the salvation for Overwatch comes late. But better late than never, or how do you see it?