Overwatch is the gift that keeps on giving. Like many live service games of its ilk, Blizzard's popular hero-based FPS receives continuous content updates over time, which usually add new maps, heroes, and cosmetic content -- all playable or obtainable at no cost (beyond the price of the base game).
If you haven't had the ability or inclination to hop onto the Overwatch train just yet, now is the perfect time to do so. As part of its ongoing Black Friday sale, Blizzard has taken Overwatch free-to-play for a little over a week. The F2P event started yesterday (November 26) and it ends on December 4, so you have a full eight days left to try the game and decide whether or not it's worth your money.
To be clear, this event is only free-to-play, not free-to-keep. Once it's over, you will lose access to the game unless you purchase it. If you do enjoy your time in the Overwatch universe and decide to take the leap, the base game (normally $20) is on sale for $15, and the Legendary Edition ($40) has been discounted to $20. Sadly, the price of loot boxes has remained unchanged for now.
Getting into Overwatch now will give you instant access to 31 playable heroes, ranging from seasoned snipers and dwarven engineers all the way to giant, intelligent gorillas and hamsters. Each hero has their own unique set of abilities, as well as a personalized backstory (not to mention a plethora of cinematics that expand upon their individual lore).
If the recent announcement of Overwatch 2 has deterred you from getting too invested in the original game, don't fret too much. All of your skins and other cosmetics will carry over to the sequel when it launches, and the game will feature crossplay with its predecessor in competitive game modes.
To download Overwatch for free, simply sign up for a Battle.net account if you don't have one already, download the dedicated client, install Overwatch, and start playing. The game's cartoony graphics won't put much strain on your system, so even weaker PCs should be able to run it. Further, it will only eat up about 30 gigs of storage space; a far cry from the 100GB+ download sizes several modern games demand nowadays.
For more details on Blizzard's Black Friday event (ending December 2), visit the company's official announcement post here.
https://www.techspot.com/news/82955-overwatch-free-play-until-december-4-part-blizzard.html
