Blizzard Entertainment has confirmed Overwatch 2 will replace the original game entirely when it launches this fall.

“When OW2 launches, it will be a replacement for the current Live Service,” game director Aaron Keller said in a Reddit AMA.

While this can be a bit of a murky response, Blizzard sent out a very definitive followup that confirms they are indeed replacing the original game with its sequel, entirely:

“Our goal is not to divide our player base and to make the transition to Overwatch 2 as seamless as possible. To that end, when OW2 launches as a free-to-play live service game October 4, it will replace the current Overwatch build,” Blizzard said to Axios. “Content players have unlocked in OW will automatically carry over to players in OW2.”

Overwatch 2 free-to-play launches on October 4th across planned platforms Windows PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch.