Credit: Unsplash
The game’s servers were hit with multiple DDoS attacks.
Yesterday saw the full release of Blizzard’s anticipated (and somewhat controversial) sequel to Overwatch, Overwatch 2. Unlike the original game, Overwatch 2 is free-to-play, which attracted a large number of players eager to try the game out on launch day. Unfortunately, due both to the sheer volume of players trying to get in and some external meddling, a large number of them were stuck in a seemingly endless waiting queue.
Social platforms were packed with Overwatch 2 players posting images of server connection failures and endless queues, wherein they were at the back of a line of 20,000. Late in the day, Blizzard president Mike Ybarra revealed that the lion’s share of these problems were caused by a DDoS attack from an as-of-yet unidentified third-party.
“Unfortunately we are experiencing a mass DDoS attack on our servers,” Ybarra wrote on Twitter. “Teams are working hard to mitigate/manage. This is causing a lot of drop/connection issues.”
The game’s developers worked through the night to try and get their servers back into working condition, but matters were complicated further this morning when the servers were hit with a second DDoS attack, again from an unidentified source.
Blizzard president blames ‘mass DDOS attack’ for keeping you from playing Overwatch 2 https://t.co/IcMgoyuNQR pic.twitter.com/9tjn3h5znC
— The Verge (@verge) October 4, 2022
“We’re steadily making progress on server issues and stability, as well as working through a second DDoS attack,” Overwatch 2 director Aaron Keller wrote on his own Twitter. “We’re all hands on deck and will continue to work throughout the night. Thank you for your patience – we’ll share more info as it becomes available.”
At the time of writing, Overwatch 2’s servers are still unstable, with no given estimate on when they’ll be in full working order.
