It seems that we finally have some major news for the upcoming and highly-anticipated Overwatch 2. According to a new Developer Update, Overwatch 2 closed alpha testing is starting this week, and a closed beta is arriving this April. The alpha testing is only going to be available to a select few candidates. This includes the Overwatch League Pros Blizzard employees and a few other select groups. 

However, the first public beta for the game is happening this April. No specific date is mentioned, all we know is that it is happening in late April. And, it is a closed beta, so you would have to register for it. To register, all you have to do is head over to Overwatch’s official site, or, you can just click this link. Check out the Developer Update video below.

According to the developer update, in order to bring Overwatch 2 sooner to the players, they have decided to decouple the PvP and the PvE components of the game, and are now focusing on the PvP part. That makes sense, as PvP is the main part of Overwatch. The closed beta that we are getting in April is going to be a PvP only beta. And, it will be having the 5v5 format.  However, it is also mentioned that there would be more public betas released later this year. And, we do not know if these will also be PvP-only beta as of now. There will be new maps, new heroes, and new features as well. 

As for the April Beta, there will be quite a bit of new stuff for the players to enjoy. Here is what we are getting.

1. New Hero: There will be a new Damage Hero, called Sojourn.

2. New Game Mode: A new PvP Game Mode called Push would also be there in this April Beta.

3. New Team Format: 5v5 Format

4. Hero Reworks

5. New Maps: There will be four new maps with this April beta.

Overwatch 2 was announced back in 2019, and there was not much out there regarding this game for almost two years. Later in 2021, we got to know that Overwatch 2 will be not be having the 6v6 format that we had in the original Overwatch game. Instead, the new Overwatch 2 will be having a 5v5 format. 2 DPS, 2 supports, and just 1 tank. Then, we also heard about the intrinsic changes of different classes of characters.