Blizzard battles with a second Overwatch 2 DDoS, but server issues are starting to ease

Junker Queen swings a hammer towards the ground in Overwatch 2
(Image credit: Blizzard)

Blizzard has confirmed that Overwatch 2 has been hit with not one, but two DDoS attacks, which, alongside renewed interest from lapsed fans, has made for a rocky launch indeed.

“We’re steadily making progress on server issues and stability, as well as working through a second DDoS attack,” Overwatch 2 director Aaron Keller says on Twitter. “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.”

Mere hours prior, Blizzard president Mike Ybarra confirmed that the team shooter had been hit with its first DDoS attack after acknowledging Overwatch 2’s server issues. At the time of writing, Overwatch 2 queue times have returned to normal, though that can may change as larger parts of the world wake up and try to log on. 

A DDoS – distributed denial of service – attack occurs when someone sends numerous outgoing connections to a single server, rendering it unable to handle connections from normal users. It's fairly easy for malicious individuals to make happen, and it's extremely difficult to defend against. Major games are regularly targeted by DDoS attacks, so it comes as little surprise a big launch like Overwatch 2 would attract these sorts of attempts.

DDoS attacks do not mean that hackers have actually intruded on Blizzard's servers, of course, so you don't need to worry about changing passwords or anything like that.

If you’re unsure if Blizzard’s latest is for you, our Overwatch 2 review makes for good reading. We reckon that, "while Overwatch 2 still offers fun and frenetic gameplay on beautifully vibrant maps, it's hard to ignore how much it deviates from the successes of the original."

Take aim at more of the best FPS games at that link.

Dustin Bailey
Staff Writer

Dustin Bailey joined the GamesRadar team as a Staff Writer in May 2022, and is currently based in Missouri. He's been covering games (with occasional dalliances in the worlds of anime and pro wrestling) since 2015, first as a freelancer, then as a news writer at PCGamesN for nearly five years. His love for games was sparked somewhere between Metal Gear Solid 2 and Knights of the Old Republic, and these days you can usually find him splitting his entertainment time between retro gaming, the latest big action-adventure title, or a long haul in American Truck Simulator.

With contributions from
Read more
Overwatch 2
As Marvel Rivals continues to dominate hero shooters, Overwatch 2 teases "groundbreaking PvP gameplay changes" on the way
After Marvel Rivals ate its lunch, Blizzard wants Overwatch 2 to continue being the "best competitive team-based hero shooter"
Overwatch 2 sombra emp animation blizzard image
Marvel Rivals' success is actually "really great" for Overwatch 2, and the FPS's director says the "pressure" that Blizzard feels is mostly "internal"
Junker Queen - Overwatch 2
2 years later, Overwatch 2 Steam reviews crawl back from 'Mostly Negative' thanks to its new perks and old loot boxes
Screenshots of Overwatch 2 showing teams battling it out along with new perks and a Stadium game mode in action
Marvel Rivals isn't going anywhere, so Overwatch 2 is stepping up with game-changing perks and a new mode that borrows from Counter-Strike and League of Legends
Screenshots of Overwatch 2 showing teams battling it out along with new perks and a Stadium game mode in action
"This is no longer about playing it safe": Overwatch 2 game director talks Marvel Rivals and betting big on season 15
Latest in FPS
Doom: The Dark Ages screenshot
Doom director claims The Dark Ages can be beaten without using a gun, but "the game's not necessarily built to do that"
Battlefield Bad Company 2
Battlefield dev reveals more of his Bad Company 3 script and confirms the plot would revolve around the squad getting kicked out of the military and brought back for a final suicide mission
A Titan readies for combat in an animated trailer for Apex Legends Season 19
Yet another Respawn shooter has reportedly been canceled, following the studio's Star Wars FPS and rumored Titanfall Legends game to the grave
A cropped screenshot from the pre-alpha gameplay footage shown in the 'Introducing Battlefield Labs' video.
Battlefield 6's first teaser takes me back to the days of Modern Warfare 2 lobbies and 24/7 Metro matches, proving we all crave a return to shooters' simpler times
Doom
Doom: The Dark Ages' new cutscenes exist because of fans' unlikely obsession with the series' lore: "A Doom game that doesn’t have a story is just an arcade game”
Battlefield Bad Company 2
"I am freaked out by how much might actually have been accurate": Battlefield Bad Company 3 writer unearths forgotten script
Latest in News
Jordan A. Mun looks at herself in a mirror in just a vest in Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet screenshot
5 years after starting development, Neil Druckmann says Naughty Dog's new game Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet is "still evolving and changing as we're making it"
Silent Hill f
After 2 years of silence, the next mainline Silent Hill game is getting a dedicated stream this week with "the latest news"
Original Xbox console
Former Microsoft exec says the first Xbox was killed early in favor of 360 because it was "losing money left right and center," but luckily "we could afford to hemorrhage cash"
A Monster Hunter Wilds character holding binoculars.
Despite Monster Hunter Wilds suffering monstrous performance problems on PC, it still outsold the PS5 and Xbox Series X versions in the US
Jordan A. Mun looks at herself in a mirror in just a vest in Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet screenshot
The Last of Us creator Neil Druckmann says Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet will also be about "being lonely," as if his zombie apocalypse wasn’t isolating enough: "I really want you to be lost"
A screenshot of Jordan drinking a soda during the reveal trailer for Intergalactic: The Hertic Prophet.
Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet is "a game about faith and religion," which Neil Druckmann jokes will surely get less hate than The Last of Us 2