Overwatch fans went into overdrive yesterday afternoon when the release date for Blizzard’s inaugural shooter was inadvertently revealed. The company refused to confirm the leak at the time, but 24 hours on they’ve publicly responded.
The leaks were right.
We wrote yesterday how IGN accidentally published advertisements on their mobile and desktop sites showing that Overwatch would be launching on May 24, with those who pre-ordered before April 29 able to play early from May 3.
Blizzard’s local team has since confirmed via an industry-wide release that Overwatch will be made available in Australia and New Zealand for PC and consoles from May 24 as well. The “head-start” period down under will run from May 4 to May 5, however, while an open beta for the game will run from May 6 to May 10.
The developer also confirmed the retail RRP for the game on PC and consoles, and it’s a jiffy. PC users will be asked to shell out $89.95 for the Origins Edition, while PS4 and XBO users will get slogged with a hefty $99.95. If you’re in New Zealand, those prices jump up to NZ$104.99 and NZ$114.99 respectively. PC users can get the base version of Overwatch, however, through the Battle.net client for $69.95.
That said, it wouldn’t be the first release that retailers have fought over with heavy pre-order discounts. Anyone who picked up Fallout 4 from JB Hi-Fi for $59 last year can attest to that, and it’s not like there’s a flood of games launching in May to steal Overwatch’s thunder.
So what do you think? Are Blizzard asking too much for a multiplayer-only team shooter, or is this roughly what you expected? And for those interested in playing on consoles, will you wait for the open beta in early May or will you be waiting to see how it holds up post-release?
Comments
15 responses to “Blizzard Confirms Leaks: Overwatch Launches In Australia On May 24”
Will each version be coming with Australian servers?
Yep very over priced.
Short of the longer character list there isn’t much separating this from TF2.
Same game modes. Its faster more like Quake but that and a console controller yeeeergh…
A lifetime of buffs and nerfs. I played but I realised I wasn’t having fun.
Hey, that’s my birthday!
It’s a sign!
A sign that my birthday money would be better spent elsewhere…. Boy that’s pricey for an online shooter…
How do you figure? AUD$70 is about USD$52 right now. It’s cheaper than Rainbow Six Siege, Black Ops 3, Evolve, Battleborn.
to be fair, everything is cheaper than Evolve.
I’m interested…. but not at that price. Given that there’s bound to be cosmetic transactions added in game for further money as well.
There are over 150+ cosmetics and unlockable items for the character that can be earned through playing and not buying. Unless they release a store later. Some of the later playthroughs show this.
there will be far more PC based players than there will console based, given the exposure and the crowd it will attract I can see it having a massive following.
g’nite cs:go
CSGO prize pool over 1 mil (dreamhack)
Steam Statistics:
CSGO playerbase peak time 662,668
TF2 Playerbase peak time 60,975 (not even close)
Yeah im sure Blizzards hat fortress clone will take over half a million players just like that… I mean it has a deep progression system, unlock the ability to have a green outfit!
You’re way overestimating Overwatch there. It’s more likely to go the way of Battlefront imo.
Chances of Overwatch killing off or affecting CS:GO are next to bugger all. They’re both shooters, but the crowds they cater to are very, very different.
Highly likely fans of one game will play the other, though.
Looks like Battlefront all over again. Overpriced and lacking content.
The collectors edition is $200?! Are they smoking crack?
There’s been some much more expensive collectors editions. If you don’t want the statue, it’s the wrong edition to get otherwise it’s fairly par for the course now days.
i keep getting overwatch and battleborn mixed up, they are coing out almost the same time and look very similar…
I am querying the price for Overwatch for Australian players, the site said it is 69.99AUD for the game where as my USA friends show site to say 39.99USD for the game (Equivalent of 55AUD)
Why the Extra 15AUD for the game for Australian players, this is not exactly a fair system
Because the 10% GST is factored into our price, whereas in the USA it’s added on afterwards (10-16%). Late reply, yes, but it happens. The actual US price is likely equal to about 60-68AUD