Overwatch 2 Will Be Used In The 2022 Overwatch League Season

Note: Activision Blizzard is still under investigation by the state of California for serious harassment charges.

You may not get to play Overwatch 2 until the second half of next year, but you'll get the chance to watch other people play it sometime in April. That's when the Overwatch League will kick off its 2022 season, as confirmed today by de facto Commissioner Jon Spector via Twitter:

I've seen a lot of speculation regarding a 2022 start date for OWL. We can confirm that our plan is to begin next season in April 2022. We will share more details about 2022 roster construction timelines soon and more info generally on our 2022 season as we get closer to April.

— Jon Spector (@Spex_J) September 3, 2021

To be more specific, Dallas Fuel Chief Gaming Officer Mike "Hastr0" Rufali has stated that the league will begin its fifth season on April 22, 2022.

To accompany that news, the Washington Post learned in an email with a league representative that the season will be played using Overwatch 2, though several teams have apparently "proposed preseason tournaments or scrimmages on an early version of 'Overwatch 2' until the game officially releases."

It makes sense that teams would request that; they almost certainly don't want games that "count" to be played on a beta build, with its potential bugs and balance issues. Another question is whether it's wise to display a potentially rough product to hundreds of thousands of viewers, but if Blizzard is as desperate for a new hit as it seems -- "We're more than aware we need to get it out," according to an internal memo -- it might be willing to take that chance.