Overwatch free weekend trial starts today, already preloading
A trial will convene this weekend, because you're about to get digimurdered
As they like to do every couple months, Blizzard today launch another Overwatch trial weekend inviting everyone play their class-based multiplayer FPS for a few days. This time, Overwatch now has a horrible murderous rodent who people will fawn over all "Aww! Isn't he cute!" as he gnaws your face off and lays his verminous brood in your guts. Oh! I've just had a vivid flashback to seeing the insides of my sister's hamster after my brother's hamster started tucking in. Organs were so much smoother and cleaner than I'd expected. The horror. Anyway, the weekend trial starts in a few hours but I'm pointing this out now so you can download the game in advance.
Blizzard explain in their announcement:
"For this free weekend, we're making Overwatch's full roster of 28 heroes—including Wrecking Ball—and 18 maps available for play in a variety of modes, including Quick Play, Custom Games, and the Arcade. Players will also be able to level up, earn Loot Boxes, and unlock a variety of different customization options for their heroes.
"Plus, if you decide to purchase Overwatch after test driving the game, you'll get to keep any progress that you made during the weekend—just be sure to use the same Blizzard account that you played on."
The trial starts at 7pm (11am Pacific) today, Thursday the 26th, and will end at 7:59am on Tuesday the 31st (which is 11:59pm on Monday the 30th for Pacificians).
Hit Battle.net's download page to start downloading Overwatch now. The game, the accompanying Battle.net client, and miscellaneous updates add up to about 15GB. Blizzard's servers are juiced to the nines so it downloaded quickly for me, though I recognise I live in the heart of a capital city and have a hot pipe.
Ostensibly this trial piggybacking the Grand Finals of Blizzard's Overwatch League, but I think they'll take any excuse for a party really.