Battle.net Game Files Hint at Possible Overwatch 2 Release

Ever since last year’s BlizzCon in November 2019, the announcement of a sequel to the smash hit esports title Overwatch has been one of the most eagerly awaited, but often frustrating subjects on the esports and esports betting scene. However, rumours have intensified this week after fans found evidence that a beta version of the oft-promised Overwatch 2 title, could be set for release shortly.

You may recall, we speculated back in June about whether an Overwatch 2 title would be released in the summer. The game did not appear, but eagle-eyed fans have noticed something unusual in the game files on the Battle.net Launcher recently to lift hopes that it may not be too long before the game arrives.

“prov2”

It should be noted at this point that the game designers, Blizzard, have not announced anything official about a beta version of Overwatch 2, nor any potential release date for the game.

It should equally be observed that the evidence provided for a potential Overwatch 2 playable beta version is somewhat scant.

The rumour of a playable beta version of Overwatch 2 has started due to fans discovering a set of files on the Battle.net service named “prov2”. This has led many to speculate that this could be a shortened version of Overwatch 2 (ov2) with some kind of prefix.

Admittedly that is a pretty long shot, but the rumour does have credence. The files have been identified as content distribution network files (CDN) and these are typically used to distribute elementary data and other details that will make downloading of a patch or update to a game speedier when it is released.

This has led a number of gaming experts to conclude that the ‘prov2” files must refer to an imminent beta version of Overwatch 2.

Interestingly, no other game files on Battle.net carry the ‘ov2’ suffix or label in any shape or form, which does tend to suggest that this could be the start of something brand new from Blizzard.

Over-Excitement or the Real Thing?

While some facts do corroborate with a potential imminent release of at least a beta version of Overwatch 2, to suggest this is evidence that a game may well be imminent is nowhere near the mark.

Nobody has given a clear indication of what the “pr” prefix of the file would mean. Unless you are a golfer of course, where ProV1 is a famous type of golf ball made by Titleist. As such, there is absolutely no evidence to suggest that this is definitively something to do with Overwatch 2.

However, in support of the potential that it could be, Blizzard has been actively promoting Overwatch over the last few months. The game can be played on Switch for Free and that plus the amount of information the company has already revealed about the game, such as the new character Sojourn, plus a variety of new game modes, stages, and other new characters, does tend to suggest Blizzard are at least gearing up for a release.

When that will be, and whether a beta version will be available first is not yet known, but fans do like to speculate about the future of one of the most popular esports titles around today.