Overwatch 2 Smacked With Two DDoS Attacks In 24 Hours

Overwatch 2 servers have been hit by not one but two DDoS attacks within its first 24 hours of launch. Initially, it was believed that the servers simply couldn't handle the pressure of a free-to-play game of this magnitude releasing until Blizzard confirmed it was DDoS attacks causing the dropped connections and issues.

DDoS stands for Distributed Denial-of-Service, and to put it in the simplest of terms, these types of attacks direct massive amounts of traffic to servers. In this case, Overwatch 2 servers were overwhelmed with more connection attempts than they could keep up with. Like in a traffic jam scenario, real players couldn't get to their destination...an Overwatch 2 match.

Overwatch 2 DDoS Attacks Behind Connection Issues

Since the launch of Overwatch 2, players have been stuck in long queues simply to get into the game. Once they made it to the menu, they were met by a connection error and had to start the process again.

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Following the launch of Overwatch 2 on 4th October 2022, players started running into connection issues, and the servers appeared to go down multiple times.

Some believed this was simply due to Blizzard not being prepared for a large number of players.

However, the President of Blizzard, Mike Ybarra, took to Twitter, explaining that the team was fighting a DDoS attack: "Unfortunately, we are experiencing a mass DDoS attack on our servers. Teams are working hard to mitigate/manage. This is causing a lot of drop/connection issues."

In the early hours of the morning on 5th October, the game's Director, Aaron Keller, explained that a second DDoS attack had occurred: "We’re steadily making progress on server issues and stability, as well as working through a second DDoS attack. We’re all hands on deck and will continue to work throughout the night. Thank you for your patience - we’ll share more info as it becomes available."

Hopefully, Blizzard will get the situation under control sooner rather than later. It is, however, not as simple as flipping a switch, and we do feel for the developers that have to deal with the effects of not one but two DDoS attacks on Overwatch 2.

For more on the game, check our section dedicated to Overwatch 2 news, guides, and features.

Featured image courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment.