Overwatch 2 Targeted by DDoS Attack

Summary

Overwatch 2 faced a DDoS attack causing disruptions for players, but Blizzard swiftly resolved the issue for fans.
Despite some criticism, Overwatch 2 attracted more players than its predecessor & continues to see success.
Blizzard consistently updates Overwatch 2 with new content & improvements but recent DDoS attack caused frustration.

Overwatch 2 briefly experienced a DDoS attack which caused problems for players, according to an official announcement from Blizzard. The followup to Blizzard's first PvP hero shooter officially left early access last year and it's built a strong and passionate fanbase since. Despite some criticism regarding ways in which it departed from the original, Overwatch 2 managed to draw more players than its predecessor on release and continues to see success.

Since its release, Blizzard has consistently rolled out more content and made various updates, fixes, and improvements to keep gamers coming back. Recently, for example, Overwatch 2 teased competitive play changes for season 10 that could bring even more action and excitement to matches. Unfortunately, for many fans today, there weren't many thrills to be had, thanks to some malicious hackers.

In a tweet from the official Blizzard customer support account, it was announced that Overwatch 2 was experiencing a DDoS attack that was preventing some players from being able to fully enjoy the game or, in some cases, even play at all. This isn't the first time the game developer and publisher has faced such issues. Last year, Blizzard was hit with a DDoS attack that impacted multiple games. This new incident, however, appears to have targeted Overwatch 2 specifically and was causing far greater harm to the experience for players.

DDoS Attack Prevents Some From Playing Overwatch 2

DDoS or direct denial of service attacks involve hackers using many computers that they've secretly taken over to simultaneously access a website or service, overwhelming it with requests and causing it to crash or become unstable for legitimate users. Players responding to the announcement tweet described extreme lag and disconnects, which are hallmarks of these sorts of attacks.

Fortunately, the issue seems to have been resolved, with Blizzard posting an update as a response to the original tweet, saying that players shouldn't be experiencing any more issues. This should come as a relief to plenty of fans that were briefly locked out of competing. There may be some great games to play for fans of Overwatch 2 but, for some, nothing beats teaming up with the likes of Mercy and Bastion to rack up wins.

While the attack appears to have been dealt with quickly, problems like this likely won't help Blizzard. Like many companies in the industry, the publisher and developer is facing a poor market. Last month, Activision Blizzard gutted its Esports division, impacting the team that works on Overwatch 2. This latest news can't be good for morale among the team or the confidence of fans.

Overwatch (Formerly Overwatch 2)

6 /10

Released: August 10, 2023

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