New Overwatch 2 director drops worrying hint about 2022 release date

Fans everywhere were concerned over the state of Overwatch 2 when Jeff Kaplan announced his departure from Blizzard, and his successor, Aaron Keller, has dropped a worrying hint regarding the sequel’s 2022 release.

Overwatch Director Jeff Kaplan’s departure from Blizzard shook the community to its core. For many, Kaplan was Overwatch, something that was fuelled by his frequent Development Update videos and overarching presence.

With Aaron Keller appointed as his successor, fans everywhere want a glimpse into the status of Overwatch 2, the game’s highly anticipated sequel that’s currently shrouded in mystery.

It turns out, though, that the news isn’t great for fans who want to get their hands on the game sooner rather than later.

Keller’s Overwatch 2 update

For those that were hoping to wake up on January 1, 2022, and spend their first hours of the year sinking their teeth into Overwatch 2, it looks like that won’t be the case.

In a pretty interesting Gamespot interview, Keller gave some insight into how he sees the Overwatch 2 development cycle’s progression. “I think this is a game that players really want to play, and it’s a game that I would like to get out to our community as soon as possible, so we’re going to make a great game and we are really committed to making it as amazing as we possibly can.”

• Read More: New Overwatch 2 director has plans to copy Warzone, Fortnite with ‘live service’ updates

He went on to highlight that “the last thing we want to do is to release it early before it’s ready,” stressing that Blizzard “recognize that it’s something that players are waiting for, and it’s something that’s important to put out there.”

He concludes that the Overwatch team are “are doing as much as we possibly can to accelerate the development process for it.”

While this hardly spells doom for the sequel it does imply that, if the game is on track for a 2022 release, unfortunately it may not be right at the start of the year.

For all the latest information on the sequel, we’ve got our Overwatch 2 hub right here.