Overwatch Closed Beta gets a Little Less Closed this Weekend

Overwatch, Blizzards strange hybrid mix of Team Fortress 2, Heroes of the Storm, and I dont know, Meet the Robinsons? Point is, its a bit of a crime, and while early reports on the game all lean towards the positive, the number of people actually able to get their hands on the game havent extended much beyond Blizzard itself, some lucky members of the press, and the closed beta testers. That leaves most of us in the dark, but, fortunately, Blizzard will be opening the floodgates soon to allow even the common drivel like you and I try their latest and greatest adventure in competitive multiplayer storytelling.

If were lucky, at least. As open-beta stress tests go, its not so much removing the barrier of entry as it is knocking it down a brick or two. From Blizzard:
 

"From Friday, November 20 through Monday, November 23, we'll be conducting our first invitation-only Beta Test Weekend. During this three-day event, we'll be opening up Overwatch beta (for a limited time) to a lot more players from our Americas and Europe gameplay regions,"

Heres how it works: tomorrow, Blizzard will be flagging Battle.net accounts at random to be eligible to enjoy Overwatch for free over the weekend. If your account is one of those tagged, youll see an install button on your Battle.net client that will give you more-or-less infinite playtime with the game all weekend. The moment its flagged, you can download the game, but you wont be able to play it till Friday still, worth the time to pre-load, Id say, if you really want to maximize your time with the game.

Players of the Beta will get access to all 21 heroes, and three maps: Hanamura, King's Row, and Watchpoint: Gibraltar. Its also worth noting that you can stream the game, if youve been chosen (good for you Twitchers out there) and that any progress in the game will not carry over to the full version, so, dont hold your breath on getting a competitive edge outside experience.

So, pretty cool for us, Id say. I look forward to hearing the stories to come out of the beta!