When a highly anticipated online game is launched, unforeseen server capacity issues and long queues are nothing out of the ordinary. In the case of this week Overwatch 2 early access, although the usual crowding problems are apparently exacerbated by coordinated distributed denial-of-service attacks.
On Tuesday night, Blizzard President Mike Ybarra gave a generic tweet warning that “Teams are working hard on server issues with Overwatch 2.” Less than an hour later, though, huh followed with some worrying details. “Unfortunately, we are experiencing a massive DDoS attack on our servers,” he said. “Teams are working hard to reduce/manage this. This causes a lot of drop/connection issues.”
overnight stay, Overwatch 2 Game director Aaron Keller posted an update saying that “we are making steady progress on server issues and stability, and we are working on a second DDoS attack. We are all hands on deck and will continue to work through the night. Thank you for your patience – we will share more information as soon as it becomes available.”
In addition to any DDoS-related issues, Blizzard also acknowledges that “some players are experiencing connection to the server” and “some players who have merged their PC and console accounts are seeing an ‘unexpected server error'” in the early hours of the game. .
Potential players on the internet post reports of hours of waiting time to get into a game and server queues with tens of thousands of people. Unsurprisingly, the situation leads to plenty of jokes and memes. Earlier Weapons of War and Jazz Jackrabbit developer Cliff Bleszinski sprang into action, tweet that “Unexpected Server Error Occurred” can apparently serve as the game’s subtitle.
Overwatch 2 apparently has a subtitle. pic.twitter.com/5gPYp62MMq
— Cliff Bleszinski (@therealcliffyb) October 5, 2022
“Yeah, this is insignificant, because that game steamed over mine,” Bleszinski added, referring to 2017’s failures lawbreakers. “And I know how hard it is to launch an online game, but still… I giggled.”
Overwatch 2 was first announced at Blizzcon in 2019. Last year, Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick said the game would not make it to a 2022 release amid “heightened competition… and higher voluntary churn” among employees. At the time, however, Blizzard suggested it “still plans to deliver a significant amount of content next year.”
Between two successful Overwatch 2 beta testing earlier this year, the game was acquired by the esports Overwatch League for high-level competitive play. Blizzard announced the game’s launch on October 4 for early access in June.
