Overwatch 2’s early pre-download is here—but only for those who meet certain requirements

Blizzard Entertainment is allowing players who meet certain guidelines to pre-download Overwatch 2 starting today to ensure the game is ready to go on launch.

In a blog post published on Tuesday that detailed a pre-launch checklist for the game, Blizzard revealed when different groups of players will be able to pre-download the game. Pre-downloading a game downloads and installs it to your PC or console, but it doesn’t allow fans to play it until its servers go live on launch day. This way, players don’t have to wait for their download to finish while everyone else is playing.

Users on PC who have previously played the first Overwatch or who purchased the Watchpoint Pack can pre-download Overwatch 2 starting today, Sept. 30 at approximately 3:30pm CT. The download is around 50GB and will start automatically for eligible players who have automatic updates turned on in Battle.net. Players who use manual updates will need to open Battle.net and initialize the download from the Overwatch page.

Users on console who previously played the first game won’t be able to start their pre-download until about 11am CT on Oct. 4, which is three hours before the game goes live for everyone. Users on either PC or console who are new to the franchise will not be able to pre-download at all and will instead need to wait until the game goes live at about 2pm CT on Oct. 4.

All players will need to make sure they have SMS Protect enabled on their Battle.net accounts to play Overwatch 2. Those who have multiple accounts across consoles will also need to complete the account merging process to enable cross-progression across PC and console.