The day we have all been waiting patiently for is finally upon us. Blizzard is taking Overwatch offline for good with an Overwatch server shutdown ahead of the long-awaited Overwatch 2 release date and the internet is bidding this groundbreaking hero shooter farewell with well-wishes, memes, and more. Whether you’re still trying to work out how to download Overwatch 2 on console and PC or not, it’s time to say goodbye to Overwatch – and we’ve trawled through the ‘SeeYouOnTheOtherSide’ hashtag to see what everyone’s been talking about while they wait for the Overwatch 2 release time to arrive.
Interestingly, quite a few of the voice actors who will be returning to voice Overwatch 2 heroes have taken to Twitter to share their thoughts on what is quite an important moment for the franchise.
Pharah VA Jen Cohn shared a screenshot of an email telling her she’d been booked to be in Overwatch, despite hilariously having no memory of auditioning for the role. Similarly, Mercy VA Lucie Pohl shared a behind the scenes snap of her starting her first Overwatch recording session with the heartwarming admission that she “had no idea how much Mercy would change [her] life” and that “heroes never die”.
Adding to this, Zenyatta VA Feodor Chin shared a lovely image of himself with Symmetra VA Anjali Bhimani, Sombra VA Carolina Ravassa, Lucio VA Jonny Cruz, Echo VA Jeannie Bolet, and Cole Cassidy VA Matt Mercer with a message of gratitude and excitement for the series’ future. Bhimani also shared some snaps from this photoshoot, expressing that “this family is the best”.
Tracer VA Cara Theobold also shared an interesting image with a message of love for “Team Overwatch”. The actress posted an image from her first Blizzcon in 2016 where she was too shy to tell a Tracer cosplayer she was-indeed the character in-game when she asked for a photo. Adding to this, Roadhog VA Josh Petersdorf has also shared an image from that 2016 Blizzcon – this snap is of himself, Reinhardt VA Darin De Paul and Mercer.
end of an era from Overwatch
However, it hasn’t just been members of the Overwatch 2 voice actors cast sharing their love for the original shooter – and excitement for the future.
Overwatch League (OWL) head Sean Miller, concept artist Andrew Menjivar, esports host Soe Gschwind, and OWL caster Harry ‘Legday’ Pollit are just a small selection of the talented people who brought Overwatch to life and cemented its place as one of the best competitive FPS games ever sharing their thoughts on what the hero shooter means to them.
I met the love of my life through Overwatch. Countless hours of pocketing his overextending Reinhardt. A new chapter starts tomorrow! from Overwatch
Adding to this, content creators and Overwatch pro players like Becca ‘Aspen’ Rukavina and Lane ‘Surefor’ Roberts are joining the conversation, expressing how much Overwatch means to them and some of their fond memories with the game.
‘AnneMunition’ shares that “to say that [Overwatch] has been a huge part of [her] life and instrumental in many of the most amazing moments and opportunities of [her] career would be an understatement”. Jonas ‘AverageJonas’ Navarsete has also expressed just how important representing Norway in the Overwatch World Cup was for him online.
My lobby thought it would be cool to take a photo together for the end of OW1 🙁 from Overwatch
Of course, all of this is really just scratching the surface when it comes to the onslaught of everyone sharing their memories (and slick gameplay clips) of Overwatch under the hashtag ‘SeeYouOnTheOtherSide’ and beyond, on platforms like Reddit, ahead of Overwatch 2
It’s clear that, whether you’re an active player or not, Overwatch has had a huge impact on every area of the gaming industry. It pioneered the hero shooter genre, it’s an esports giant that paved the way for popular FPS games like Valorant, and it’s without a doubt one of the best games of the last decade. Whether you’re a casual player or someone religiously grinding Competitive, Overwatch was one-of-a-kind and we can’t wait to see where the road takes us next. Bring on Overwatch 2.