After weeks of speculation about the Overwatch League’s 2022 plans (and months of rumors about Overwatch 2’s development), OWL VP Jon Spector has calmed nerves and announced an expected start date: April 2022. This coincides with reports about OW2’s progress.
It’s been a long while now that Overwatch fans have been eagerly anticipating news about Overwatch 2’s development, many hopefully tying the game’s release to the upcoming OWL season.
In early August, the rumor mill buzzed about OW2 delays. Then, in late-August, Dexerto’s sources indicated concerns that the game wouldn’t be ready for 2022 — suggesting a possible delay in the OWL’s next season.
But, with the OWL’s current playoffs expected to wrap by the end of September, league Vice President Jon Spector has shut down some of the speculation. And, alongside his confirmation, an Overwatch League spokesperson has told us the season will start on an early build of Overwatch 2.
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
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As Spector explains, the league does expect to begin its 2022 season in April. That would mean about a six-month offseason, lending to fan hopes that the OW2 timeline isn’t as far off as recent rumors indicated.
This was corroborated by an OWL spokesperson, who confirmed the new season will be played on an early build of the highly anticipated Overwatch 2 and that more information would be announced as we near April.
For now, all of these comments indicate plans and do not cement anything in stone. But, fans are already quite happy with the news, as it goes against numerous rumors and reports that the season and sequel would both be delayed until 2023.
We will include any more information as it becomes available, but, for now, it appears that the upcoming content and competitions for Overwatch won’t be as far off as many worried.
