Overwatch Closed Beta In Europe Next Week Too

For a while there, it looked like our US counterparts would be getting to grips with the Overwatch [official site] beta before us humble Europeans. Now, we're on equal footing and will be marching towards October 27 in unison, after Blizzard got their beta servers for Europe and the Americas up and running sooner than planned. It's bad news for our Asian friends, though. You guys still need to wait. Sad face.

Blizzard explain in a blog post:

"We're happy to report that we will be launching the Overwatch Closed Beta in both the Americas and Europe gameplay regions on October 27. The first phase of the Closed Beta will deploy on October 27 in our Americas and Europe gameplay regions, and players may be added gradually to start (with more being invited as new features are ready to test). During this time, we'll continue to make preparations for our Asia gameplay region, which is set to come online at a later date."

As we already knew, the upcoming beta tests will be split into two types. A small number of folks will get into the closed beta with regular access, while weekend tests will open up to more players as stress tests with a focus on specifics elements. Weekend testing is set to begin following BlizzCon, which kicks off on November 6th.

What do we think? Graham got his hands on Overwatch at Gamescom and seemed to enjoy it - once he got past the irritation imposed but its sickeningly overzealous characters. My words, not his. Alice, on the other hand, ain't too sure yet from what she's seen thus far. Me? I'm decidedly on the fence. For every screen or video I've enjoyed, there's been another one of two which has left me doubting. But hey, that's what betas are for!

If you're interested in signing up for the beta you can do so here.