Blizzard Confirms Leaks: Overwatch Launches In Australia On May 24

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?


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