Blizzard is closing down the Overwatch beta for a while

Blizzard has revealed that it will be shutting down its Overwatch closed beta servers later this month, starting on the 10th of December. During this downtime, no more invites will be sent out and nobody will be able to access the game, though it will be returning next year and letting in more players to keep testing things out as development continues.

Right now, Overwatch is scheduled to return in January, between now and then, Blizzard will be working on implementing feedback obtained from the last six weeks or so of testing: “Since the start of the Overwatch beta in late October, aspiring heroes from around the world have battled it out in more than 900,000 matches. In this same period of time, we've also gathered invaluable information about our servers, core systems like matchmaking, and overall map and hero balance—thanks not only to the raw data we've collected from the game, but also to the numerous bug reports, suggestions, critiques, and experiences you’ve shared”.

“This phase of development has been key, but now it's time to analyze the data we have, dig into your feedback even further, and put that knowledge to use as best we can.”

While the beta servers are closing down on the 10th of December, the beta forum will remain open until the 18th. After that, things will be quiet on the Overwatch front until January, at which time even more people will get access to the game ahead of its release, which is currently scheduled for June, though that could change.

KitGuru Says: A lot of people currently playing Overwatch seem to be quite happy with the game, though this month-long shutdown does seem a little unexpected. Have any of you had a chance to try out Overwatch yet? How are you finding it?

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