Is Overwatch 2 down? How to check Blizzard servers status
Having problems getting into Overwatch 2? Here's how to see what's happening.
The launch of Overwatch 2 has run into its fair share of technical problems, to say the least, with issues involving the servers resulting in players with very long queue times.
With Overwatch 1 shut down already, it feels like the entire fanbase is trying to cram into Overwatch 2 at once, and that's without considering the DDoS attack that has been mentioned by the developers, and the trouble with merging Overwatch accounts (which lots of players seem to be experiencing).
So, you might be wondering if Overwatch 2 is down right now, what technical issues you need to be aware of, and whether the Overwatch 2 servers are alive and kicking or not. For all that insight and more, read on!
Is Overwatch 2 down?
As far as we can tell, Overwatch 2 is not down at the time of writing. The game is online, but you might find yourself waiting for a long time to get into a match.
The most recent time we tried to load up the game, we were told that there were 9,000 players ahead of us in the queue. If this happening to you, it looks all you can really do is wait. The number does seem to gradually go down, so there is light at the end of the tunnel hopefully.
Overwatch 2 developers including Aaron Keller have taken to Twitter, stating that a DDoS attack (a type of cyber attack that sends a lot of fake traffic to an online service to clog up its servers) was one of the issues at launch.
"We’re steadily making progress on server issues and stability," Keller said on 5th October, "as well as working through a second DDoS attack. We’re all hands on deck and will continue to work throughout the night. Thank you for your patience - we’ll share more info as it becomes available."
When we logged into the game just now, we were met by an error message that adds a bit of extra info, saying: "We're aware that some players are encountering an unexpected server error message when attempting to sign in. This is actively being worked on. Thank you for your patience!"
More recently, the Overwatch 2 team has shared a full blog post about the launch difficulties, and you can read that by clicking the link we included earlier on in this sentence. The blog post notes: "While millions of people have been enjoying the game, the launch has not met your, or our, expectations."
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How to check Overwatch 2 server status
If you're ever wondering about the Overwatch 2 server status, the best place to look is Down Detector, a community-generated information source where you'll be able to see if other players are experiencing the same issues as you.
If you're looking for official intel from the developers, Twitter seems to be their platform of choice: follow the accounts of Aaron Keller and Mike Ybarra, and you should see any major updates about the servers on there.
The official PlayOverwatch Twitter account is also there for your perusal, but seems to focus more on marketing than server updates, and the same could be said about the news section of the Overwatch website.
Stick to the developers' Twitter accounts and Down Detector, though, and you should be able to assess the situation. Hopefully, you'll be back online and playing Overwatch 2 before too long.
Read more on Overwatch 2:
- Is Overwatch 2 crossplay? Online options explained
- Overwatch 2 story mode - when is PvE content coming?
- How to merge Overwatch 2 accounts - don't miss out
- Overwatch 2 achievements - full list of trophies
- Overwatch 2 characters - unlock every hero
- Overwatch 2 Junker Queen - learn all about her
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Authors
Rob Leane is the Gaming Editor at Radio Times, overseeing our coverage of the biggest games on PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, PC, mobile and VR. Rob works across our website, social media accounts and video channels, as well as producing our weekly gaming newsletter. He has previously worked at Den of Geek, Stealth Optional and Dennis Publishing.
