Here's the year we think Overwatch 2 might be set

Overwatch 2 seems to appear in this mysterious realm of time and space, meaning it’s hard to pinpoint an exact timeframe of when the game takes place. It’s something that has been long debated and caused the community to argue over it for years.

With futuristic levels, all the way down to western-themed areas such as Junkertown, it’s not exactly an easy question to answer. If you’ve been curious as to the year when Overwatch 2 is set, and whether it’s set right after the events of the first game, we’ve broken down everything we know about when it could take place.

When could Overwatch 2 could take place?

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Officially, we don't know exactly when Overwatch 2 is set, and there is no official confirmation of the year or time period by Blizzard. However, we can make some guesses based on information we already know.

To begin with, it’s important to discover when the first Overwatch is set. Originally, Blizzard’s Michael Chu, the game’s senior designer and lead writer, confirmed the game was set around 60 years in the future. This places the first game around 2076, considering Overwatch launched in 2016.

However, the information surrounding when Overwatch 2 is set is a little murky. Nobody from Blizzard has directly stated when the game is set, which has led the community to begin its own investigation and learn the truth behind the matter.

One Redditor by the name of John_is_a_fool has done some digging and possibly found an answer. In the map Paraiso, a poster has an event with the date of Friday, May 14th. After some digging, it seems the only years that far into the future that have that date are 2077 or 2088, which places Overwatch 2 in that time frame.

It’s entirely possible it could be even further in the future, but considering the Overwatch 2 characters are a similar age to the first game, we imagine it’s most likely set in a year after 2077.

If you’ve been scratching your head on this question for a while, you may now finally know when Overwatch 2 is set.

Check out our Overwatch 2 homepage for more guides. Alternatively, here is our Overwatch 2 Hero tier list and the best Overwatch 2 settings to improve performance and visibility.