The Overwatch League’s next season will launch in April using an early version of Overwatch 2, a League spokesperson confirmed to Esports.gg.
Activision Blizzard has confirmed that the next season of Overwatch League is aiming for an April 2022 launch and will use an "early version" of Overwatch 2 ahead of the game's launch.
"The plan right now is for the Overwatch League's 2022 season to begin on an early build of Overwatch 2," an Overwatch League spokesperson told Esports.gg. "We'll have more details to share about our 2022 season as we get closer to the planned start date of April of next year."
This news dropped after a blockbuster report from Richard Lewis for Dexerto claimed that teams were feeling uneasy about the plans for next season. This is an addition to possible scenarios for Overwatch 2's launch, which could be as soon as next summer. Teams were also reportedly concerned about the ongoing Activision Blizzard Califonia DFEH lawsuits.
These new plans seem to be in direct response to these concerns that were reported and could be seen as a compromise from Activision Blizzard to appease these concerns. This is also after the League denied reports that they would take a "year-long hiatus" to wait for the game's launch.
"I've seen a lot of speculation regarding a 2022 start date for OWL," Overwatch League VP Jon Spector followed up on Twitter. "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."
Overwatch 2 still does not have an official launch date as of press time. The title was revealed on November 1, 2019 at Blizzcon, which built audience anticipation. Since then, there has been little news about the title aside from its shift to 5v5 from 6v6 in its multiplayer mode, as well as the reveal of a few maps. We've reached out for a comment regarding Overwatch 2's release date and will update if we hear back.