Everything you need to know about Overwatch 2 issues and bugs preventing you from playing the game and how to fix them.
After months of anticipation, Overwatch 2 is finally here. Unfortunately, several issues and bugs are preventing the release of Overwatch 2, preventing players from discovering this new version of Blizzard’s FPS. Here is a list of all known Overwatch 2 issues and bugs and how to fix them.
overwatch 2 queue issues
If you’ve tried running Overwatch 2 recently, you may have noticed a strange bug with the queue system. The queue will go from a smaller number to a more significant number, leaving you waiting even longer than you expected. So if you’re waiting 30 minutes for 60,000 players to evacuate, just to bump up behind an additional 20,000, that’s completely normal — at least, according to Blizzard.
The reason behind the collision of this queue is not one but two queues. The first goes through Battle.Net, while the second is within the game itself. That means you’ll have to wait for Battle.Net to get to Overwatch before you can actually queue up to play the game. This process happens all the time, except when it is not visible to the players. For some reason, it was visible in real time.
The Overwatch team has made some changes to simplify the queue process, so you should only see one queue before entering the game.
overwatch 2 server crash
After waiting forever to clear the queue of players ahead of you, you can finally launch the game. But after sometime the server crashes. If this sounds familiar, don’t worry: You’re not the only one experiencing server issues in Overwatch 2.
The launch of Overwatch 2 brought in a large number of players who wanted to discover this new version of Blizzard’s FPS. However, it was a bit much for Overwatch’s servers. This led to some stability issues, leaving some players disconnected because they are already in a game.
Blizzard has already patched the servers to increase login reliability. Another server update is on the way to further improve stability and reduce pressure on the player database. However, it may take some time. Blizzard is adding nodes to help regulate the flow of players, but doing so requires replication of data, which adds more pressure to an already stressed system. To avoid blowing everything up and disconnecting everyone, the Overwatch team is slowly but surely implementing this system. While this won’t help in the short term, it will improve the experience for players going forward.
SMS Protect not working
Blizzard seems to be very fond of mobiles. After the infamous “Don’t you guys have a phone?” From the Diablo Immortal presentation during BlizzCon 2018, the company is back, this time requiring a valid phone number to run Overwatch 2.
However, many players have issues with this SMS Protect feature in Overwatch 2. Most importantly, several players reported that Blizzard does not support pre-paid phone plans for its SMS Protect in Overwatch 2.
Blizzard decided to remove the phone number requirements for the majority of existing Overwatch players. If you’ve connected your Battle.Net account and played since June 9, 2021, you don’t need to provide a phone number to play Overwatch 2.
But if Blizzard removes the phone requirements for existing players, new accounts will still have to meet SMS security requirements. According to Blizzard, this feature is meant to prevent poorly behaved players from creating new accounts after being banned. However, this prevents many players from joining the Overwatch 2 promotion, as users with pre-paid phone plans cannot register their phone numbers. Blizzard hasn’t addressed this issue yet.
Items missing after merging accounts
If you’ve already played the original Overwatch, everything you’ve previously unlocked should carry over to Overwatch 2. However, some players reported that their in-game inventory had been partially or completely reset.
Luckily, it’s only a merger issue: you haven’t lost any of your precious in-game content. In most cases, you can quickly fix an inventory bug by completing your account merge.
To merge your console account with Battle.Net, follow these steps:
- Login to Overwatch with your console account.
- Follow the on-screen prompts to scan the QR code on your mobile phone.
- Enter the code displayed on your console to connect to or create your Blizzard Battle.Net account.
- Once completed, you will be prompted to confirm your account on the next game login to merge your accounts.
The Overwatch team revealed that there was a bug preventing the account merge prompt from appearing on some consoles. Fortunately, you can merge your accounts manually, even without this prompt, by visiting the Battle.Net Connections page directly from your computer.
If items in your inventory are still missing after you merge your accounts, the problem is probably on Blizzard’s side. You won’t lose any in-game content you’ve unlocked, but your inventory may take longer to transfer from the original game to Overwatch 2. Blizzard will be deploying a client-side fix next week to fix this bug and is also looking at a server-side solution.
Locked Heroes for existing players
Overwatch 2 differentiates between existing and new players. Those who discover Blizzard’s FPS with Overwatch 2 go through the user experience for the first time, a kind of tutorial that progressively unlocks heroes. It’s meant to guide new players as they explore the game, without giving them more than 30 heroes at once and losing them in the process.
However, there is a known issue where some current players cannot access all heroes. If you’ve played Overwatch 1, by choosing the hero you want to play, you should be able to discover Overwatch 2 without any limitations.
If you want to fix this problem and unlock all heroes on Overwatch 2, try logging into the game again. In most cases, this fixes user experience bugs for the first time and lets you enjoy Overwatch 2 to the fullest. If you are still facing this issue even after logging out, open a support ticket to get additional help from Blizzard.
On top of these Overwatch 2 bugs and issues, Blizzard was plagued by DDoS attacks upon the game’s launch. These attacks disrupted traffic on Overwatch’s servers, which were already saturated by players. While Blizzard is no longer prone to these DDoS attacks, it did delay fixing some bugs in the game at launch.
Blizzard is currently investigating all Overwatch 2 issues and bugs. They should be fixed soon, so if you can’t access the games right away, take a look at our Overwatch 2 Hero Tier list to get ready to win your first games as soon as you launch them. Make sure.
