Blizzard announced BlizzConline today, which will be taking place February 19-20, 2021. Since I'm pretty sure they'll be making some big OW2 announcements, I thought it would be fun to place my bets here on what I think will be announced.
Sure Bets
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Launch date will be announced at Blizzcon along with details on new maps, heroes, modes, and PvE.
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There will be a short and very limited closed beta soon after Blizzcon. This will be to find bugs and fine-tune the UI/UX.
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Release will be close to the 5th Anniversary Event, with a short open beta in early May.
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PvP will remain largely unchanged other than the addition of new heroes, maps, and game modes.
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PvE will be in the spotlight in OW2, with a progression system, unique abilities, and leveling for each of the heroes. New PvE missions will be released regularly with episodic storytelling included.
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OW2 will see the addition of a season pass for cosmetics. I'm not a fan of this, but I'm pretty sure it's gonna happen.
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XP Boosters will be available for purchase as microtransactions. I'm not sure if these are for PvE leveling or for the season pass.
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Cosmetics will see the addition of a new special legendary skin type that allows the player to customize the color scheme for that skin. These skins will only be available for real money purchase similar to OWL skins and All-Star skins. Some will be available with game bundles at launch.
Long Shots
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The Workshop/Custom games will get a UI overhaul, making it much easier to make and manage custom game modes. A browser will be added that lets you look through different game modes that have been shared and see which ones are the most popular.
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Blizzard will copy Riot's beta key drop through streamers scheme for the open beta to build hype and media awareness prior to launch. Might be limited to people that have already purchased Overwatch to avoid the problem of botters idling.
1 in a Million
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OWL will end its exclusive broadcasting deal with YouTube and go back to Twitch or stream on both. (Blizzard please, save OWL.)
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Brigitte will be deleted.
What do you think? How wrong am I? Any predictions you'd like to share?
