Many Blizzard fans have been anxiously waiting for the release of Overwatch 2. The sequel to the original game is said to bring a bunch of new content, such as new heroes and a campaign mode. The original roster has carried over to the sequel, along with the most available maps. The community’s excitement quickly turned into frustration and disappointment as extremely long queues prevented tens of thousands of players from even entering the game. 

Players are Still Unable to Play Overwatch 2

Fans were eager to try out the latest installment of Blizzard’s popular FPS game once its October 4 release date was announced. Many gamers opted for the pre-installation method so that they could play the game when it officially went live. The sequel has been beta testing for three months, so many players expect a grand launch. However, an unexpected major issue frustrated the community as people started queuing up for the game. 

Though players and Blizzard expected that many people would try to log in to Overwatch 2, they never expected that the queue line would reach absurd numbers. Thousands of fans were surprised that the waiting list went from an initial 20,000 to over 60,000. All login attempts in all three servers (America, Europe, Asia) of OW2 reached the tens of thousands. Even with the game’s popularity, the queue was never expected to get this high. 

As more people tried to log in, many became even more frustrated as they had to wait more than three hours to get into the game only to have them disconnected back to the back of the line. Many players experienced finishing the queue only to be kicked out of OW2. Upon logging back in, they had to start from the very bottom of the waiting list. Fans also reported that the queue was erratic as they would already be around the following 100 players only to get pushed back to 20k.

Aside from the long waiting list, players stated that they were also experiencing some connectivity issues. There have been reports of gamers who were already playing getting kicked out after a few minutes of playtime. The worse thing about this is that those who were disconnected got sent back into the queue. 

What Has Caused the Long Queues Since OW2 Launch?

While fans did expect that the hype over Overwatch 2 would cause some issues to the server, the absurdity of the queue was unexpected since it went way over the estimated count. Aside from the thousands of players logging in, it was reported that a DDoS attack on the game’s servers was the biggest reason for the extremely long waiting list. These cyber-attacks have been ongoing since the very beginning of the launch.

A Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) is a type of cyber-attack wherein a server is overwhelmed by a flood of internet traffic. This is commonly done using thousands of bots or botnets to send requests to a targeted network or server. Such a malicious attempt aims to disrupt normal operations by overloading the data centers. For Overwatch 2 case’, it resulted in an unstable connection and a ridiculous queue. Blizzard has since been trying to fix the issue and gaining control of the situation. 

Overwatch 2 is Free-to-Play

While the incredibly long waiting list was definitely caused by the DDoS attack, it was already expected that queue would still be experienced during the launch. In contrast to Overwatch 1’s pay-to-play system, Overwatch 2 is entirely free-to-play. This means more players have access to the game, contributing to further server congestion. 

OW2 is completely F2P since most of the content in the game is only locked behind profile level or the number of games played. Players will only spend their money on cosmetics and battle passes. Unfortunately, the loot box in OW1 will not be implemented in the sequel since gamers can get free rewards from the battle pass. 

Has the Overwatch 2 Queue Stabilized?

As of October 6, things have finally calmed down a bit. The connection has become more stable, and queues have been lessened to the hundreds. While the waiting list is still a bit long, it is much more bearable than the previous days. 

Blizzard seems to have taken control of the situation, but it is still unclear if the game is safe from further DDoS attacks. In the meantime, players can now enjoy much of the sequel. Gamers can check out the latest agents, maps, and game modes in Overwatch 2.