Overwatch Free To Play On All Platforms This Weekend, Check Deploy Times Here

by Brandon Hill — Tuesday, February 13, 2018, 12:27 PM EDT

If you somehow have missed out on all of the immense hype and commotion surrounding Overwatch, you are about to receive yet another opportunity to get your feet wet -- free of charge. Overwatch typically costs $40, but Blizzard will have a free weekend event starting on Friday, which will last through Monday (February 16-19).

During the Overwatch Free Weekend, gamers will have access to all 36 heroes along with 17 maps to enjoy. A number of game modes will be available including Quick Play, Custom Games, and the Arcade. In a rather smart play by Blizzard, "newbs" to the Overwatch community will be able to carryover their accumulated loot boxes and customizable items if they purchase the full game. In order for this transfer to occur, however, you have to make sure that you use the same account when logging in with the full version of the game (i.e. Xbox Live, PSN, Blizzard).

The Overwatch Free Weekend will be available on all supported platforms, which includes the PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4. You will need either Xbox Live Gold or PlayStation Plus if you are a console user.

For PC users, you will need to download and install the Battle.net app and sign up for a free Blizzard account. From there you will be able to install Overwatch and jump right into action (starting February 16^th, of course). On the Xbox One, you'll simply need to be logged into your Xbox Live account and search for Overwatch: Origins Edition. Select the Free Trial, download the software and prepare for battle. Likewise, the process is similar on the PlayStation 4, although you search for Overwatch: Origins Edition from the PlayStation Store and then click Download.

As for start times for the Overwatch Free Weekend, find your time zone in the chart below:

We should mention that while the free weekend is open to all PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4 users, this is still no cross-play support among the three platforms.

Tags: Blizzard, Activision-Blizzard, Overwatch, overwatch free weekend

Brandon Hill

Brandon received his first PC, an IBM Aptiva 310, in 1994 and hasn’t looked back since. He cut his teeth on computer building/repair working at a mom and pop computer shop as a plucky teen in the mid 90s and went on to join AnandTech as the Senior News Editor in 1999. Brandon would later help to form DailyTech where he served as Editor-in-Chief from 2008 until 2014. Brandon is a tech geek at heart, and family members always know where to turn when they need free tech support. When he isn’t writing about the tech hardware or studying up on the latest in mobile gadgets, you’ll find him browsing forums that cater to his long-running passion: automobiles.

Opinions and content posted by HotHardware contributors are their own.

Which New GPU Is For You?

Stay updated with the latest news and updates. Subscribe to our newsletter!

Subscribe Now