Hey everyone! I’ve never played Overwatch before, and I’m thinking about buying the first Overwatch game on the Nintendo Switch. But before I do, I wanted to check: is Overwatch 1 still popular and playable in 2025? Will there still be active players online, or has something changed about the game’s availability or servers? Thanks!
3 Answers
If you’re looking to play on Switch, buying a physical copy of the original Overwatch might not help much. The game updates online and ends up running Overwatch 2, which is free to play. Also, any codes from the original discs that unlocked skins are probably expired by now, though I’m not sure if that’s different for Switch. Your best bet is to just download Overwatch 2 and jump into that.
Actually, Overwatch 1 isn’t really a thing anymore. Blizzard replaced it with Overwatch 2, and they retired the first game’s servers. So if you try playing the original now, it either won’t work or will just update to Overwatch 2 automatically.
Yeah, the original Overwatch servers have been shut down since Overwatch 2 launched. The first game essentially doesn’t exist online anymore. Instead, the Overwatch 2 arcade mode has a “Classic” option that mimics the old game’s feel, so you can get a similar experience for free.
Oh nice, that sounds great! So the classic modes in OW2 are the closest I can get to the original game?
Thanks for the heads up! So there’s no way to play the original Overwatch on Switch anymore?