When Jeff Kaplan announced that he was leaving Blizzard, Overwatch fans were quite emotional. Who would awkwardly do interviews at the Overwatch League or sit in front of a fireplace for hours? But most importantly, what would happen to Overwatch 2? 

Updates and support for Overwatch slowed down significantly this year as developers continued to work on the game's sequel, Overwatch 2. The game was showcased a bit more during BlizzConline 2020, announcing hero skin reworks, hundreds of hero missions, new maps, and weapon upgrades. But throughout the entire panel, there was never a mention of a release date. 

Overwatch fans had already started speculating that the game wouldn't come out in 2021 like previously mentioned by the developers in the past. Blizzard had been putting up ads for the Overwatch 2 development team, worrying fans further. And BlizzConline seemed to confirm that Overwatch 2 was nowhere near completion. 

And then Jeff left. 

When is Overwatch 2 releasing?

The future of Overwatch 2 seemed quite shaky. Meanwhile, Overwatch has not received any major updates or new content for over a year. Echo was the last addition to the game back in April of 2020. But the Overwatch community held on to the possibility of a January 1, 2022 release after all that had happened. 

But Aaron Keller stepped into Jeff's role and immediately dashed those dreams. 

"The last thing we want to do is release it early before it's ready," Keller explained to Gamespot. [Blizzard] recognizes that it's something that players are waiting for and it's something that's important to put out there. We are doing as much as we possibly can to accelerate the development process for it.”

Keller went on to say that he wants the Overwatch community to play the sequel "as soon as possible," but the team is currently working on making it "as amazing as we possibly can." 

Overwatch fans were pretty alarmed by Keller's discussion about Overwatch 2's release date. Once again, the January 2022 date could not be confirmed and Keller's response sounded like that release might even be considered "early before it's ready." 

While Keller never mentioned an exact release date for the game, it appears to still be deep in the development phase. While 2022 isn't out of the question, Overwatch fans might not be celebrating the New Year with a copy of Overwatch 2. 

This isn't the greatest news for Overwatch fans but Keller will most likely speak directly to players throughout the year about the game's updates. According to the Gamespot interview, Keller plans to talk to the community. But don't expect a nine-hour-long, silent stream any time soon.