Overwatch 2 launch plagued by long queues and DDoS attacks
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Overwatch 2’s launch has been disrupted by a spate of DDoS attacks and server outages as players struggle to get into the game and access premium content.
Overwatch 2 players have faced extraordinarily long queues when attempting to launch the game, with some in four-hour queues of more than 50,000 people. Others were unable to load the game at all, faced longer wait times when merging their Overwatch accounts, and found that previously unlocked cosmetics were missing from their collection.
Hours after the game launched, Blizzard president Mike Ybarra confirmed on Twitter (opens in new tab) that Overwatch 2’s servers had been hit by a DDoS attack – a deliberate attempt to disrupt and destabilize a server network by flooding it with a wave of traffic
Game director Aaron Keller later announced on Twitter (opens in new tab) that a second DDoS attack was registered. He said Blizzard was “all hands on deck” and would “work all night” to fix the issues.
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Despite the DDoS attacks, some players managed to bypass the long queues. Logging into the game’s Asia servers on PC significantly reduced wait times and would still match you with players from your region.
Extremely long queues are not the only problems players have encountered. Many have been unable to enter Overwatch 2 even after the queue counter drops to zero, with some lingering on the loading screen for up to an hour before entering. Others have spontaneously disconnected while queuing or started up mid-game.
Players attempting to merge their Overwatch accounts — so they can combine their PC and console profiles to transfer skins, items, and other cosmetics to the sequel — will have to join a second, long queue. While accounts can be merged in the background, players will have to wait for their cosmetics and rank to appear. In fact, some have not been able to connect at all because they get an error message that says “Unexpected Server Error”.
Additional premium content has also reportedly disappeared from user accounts. Some players who bought the Overwatch 2 Watchpoint Pack – a $39.99 / £34.99 / AU$59.95 starter pack that collects various cosmetics, premium goodies and access to the Season One Battle Pass – have found that it is not in their account has appeared. Others have also found that cosmetics, items, and in-game currency are missing from their profiles.
Blizzard has a forum post (opens in new tab) a list of known startup problems and bugs. They include merge errors, lost connections to the server, and missing cosmetics. It says it is working to fix the issues and will update players when the fixes are ready. Already fixed an issue where players’ match history and replays were deleted, and it will return players who accidentally bought the Happi Genji skin twice after the cosmetic didn’t appear in some accounts.