We’re steadily making progress on server issues and stability, 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.
— Aaron Keller (@aaronkellerOW) October 5, 2022
Overwatch 2 servers are down following a ‘mass DDoS attack’ on launch day
UPDATE: Blizzard apologises for the game’s launch issues and details plans to address them
The Overwatch 2 servers have been hit by a “mass” distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack on the game’s launch day.
That’s according to Blizzard president Mike Ybarra, who said on Tuesday that the company is doing its best to resolve issues preventing players from accessing the game.
“Teams are working hard on server issues with Overwatch 2,” he tweeted. “We are humbled by the excitement of players and will continue to focus on issues and get players into the fun! Thanks for your patience.
Update
Overwatch 2 game director Aaron Keller has said that his time is “working through the night,” to resolve the issues which have plagued Overwatch 2’s launch day.
The game appears to be much more stable this morning, with the huge queues and connection errors of launch night mostly resolved.
Update 2
Following reports of improvements earlier on Wednesday, Overwatch 2 servers appear to be down again, based on VGC’s own experience and numerous online reports.
The website Down Detector, which uses user reporting to track the online status of major networks, is showing a large spike in the number of Overwatch 2 players experiencing issues accessing the game over the last couple of hours.
Update 3
Blizzard has apologised for Overwatch 2’s launch issues and said it will drop a controversial phone number requirement for the “majority of existing players”.
“Unfortunately we are experiencing a mass DDoS attack on our servers,” Ybarra added. “Teams are working hard to mitigate/manage. This is causing a lot of drop/connection issues.”
An in-game message presented to impacted players reads: “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.”
Overwatch 2 launched in early access today as a free-to-play title for PC, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS5, PS4 and Nintendo Switch.
Players are required to have a mobile phone number attached to their Battle.net account, but some users have also reported issues with this new security system.
Overwatch 2 will have seasonal updates every nine weeks and a battle pass featuring new content including heroes, game modes, maps and cosmetics.
Further reading
Overwatch 2 reveals new hero and Season 1 battle pass details
The free-to-play game launches in open beta next month
Players who are new to the series will have to play 100 matches to unlock all of the original game’s heroes. Other features like in-game chat and the game’s competitive mode are also locked until new players have met certain requirements.
The decision to gate certain content and features is part of an introductory process Blizzard is calling the ‘First Time User Experience’.
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