Over the past few days, Blizzard has taken the opportunity to fully unveil its first new Overwatch 2 character, Sojourn. That includes a delve into Sojourn's origin story, her abilities, and a cinematic look at gameplay involving the new character. What isn't planned is the early release of Sojourn, however. That will have to wait for the launch of Overwatch 2's beta, currently planned for April 26. But it may come as a surprise that Blizzard came close to launching Sojourn early.
In a Blizzard dev livestream discussing Sojourn's design, some insight into the studio's plans for the character was revealed. Art director Dion Rogers explained that Blizzard "juggled" with its plans to launch Sojourn. The studio considered launching her as part of the original Overwatch's content, apparently, but ultimately decided against it. Rogers mentioned the possibility while discussing the importance of adding a black female hero, so it's easy to see how having her be a part of Overwatch's roster would be an exciting opportunity. Now they'll have missed out on that opportunity.
As it is obvious, Blizzard decided instead to keep Sojourn for Overwatch 2. Rogers explains that the decision was made in part to ensure she wasn't treated as a "random addition" to Overwatch's cast and instead received the development time and priority to create a story that she deserved. Overwatch 2 was a better fit for those goals, leading to where Sojourn is now. Rogers explains that Sojourn has become a "centerpiece" to Overwatch 2.
There was some controversy over the recent Sojourn reveals due to misaligned expectations. Overwatch fans were expecting a full gameplay reveal for Sojourn, but it was not delivered. The "gameplay" trailer that was shown was instead an in-engine scripted cinematic. It was a facsimile of gameplay, rather than the real thing. With Sojourn arriving soon, the lack of gameplay made some Overwatch fans nervous.
Needless to say, there are high expectations for Blizzard going into the launch of Overwatch 2's beta in late April. The decision to launch Overwatch 2 unfinished so that players have new content now rather than having to wait another year or longer comes with many unique challenges. One of them is that Sojourn will stand out as a test of what the step forward into Overwatch 2 really means. That's a lot of pressure, centerpiece or not.
The official Overwatch 2 beta launches on April 26. It will be PvP exclusive, makes the jump from 6v6 to 5v5, and will only be available to an exclusive group of invitees. More betas will follow, with the list of invited players opening over time. Overwatch players will have to opt into the beta via the official PlayOverwatch website.
Overwatch 2's beta starts April 26 on PC. Console support will be available at a later date.