'Overwatch' Beta Release Date: Blizzard's Brand New FPS Goes Live Late October

Blizzard Entertainment has just announced the beta launch date of its highly-anticipated shooting game, "Overwatch." The beta, which Blizzard says will test public reaction to the game and help sort out balancing, will officially begin on October 27th.

"Overwatch" is a team-focused shooter, in the same vein as the ultra-popular "Team Fortress 2," but Blizzard is marketing it as a first-person-shooter/mobile online battle arena (MOBA) hybrid, where teamwork and cooperation will be absolutely critical to gameplay. Blizzard already has a successful competitive MOBA on the market ("Heroes of the Storm"), but "Overwatch" could pull some space from dedicated shooting games with well-established fanbases like "Counterstrike" and the aforementioned "Team Fortress 2."

To say there’s a lot of hype surrounding "Overwatch" would be an understatement; "Overwatch" is Blizzard’s first truly original intellectual property (IP) since the days of the Super Nintendo, and even other gaming companies can’t contain their excitement.

A full release is yet to be announced, but for now, "Overwatch" is PC-only.