Blizzard Entertainment is holding a Free Weekend for #Overwatch during which the game will be free to all players starting November 17 at 2:00 pm EST (11:00 am PST) until November 20. If you have not yet had the pleasure of playing Overwatch, this upcoming weekend might just be the perfect opportunity for you.

Overwatch is a massively multiplayer online first-person shooter in the form of a battle arena created by Blizzard Entertainment, (famous for other titles such as World of Warcraft and Diablo). The game took the world by storm immediately after its release in May 2016, and it has maintained its status as one of the most played games ever with a rapidly increasing player rate, increasing from about 11 million players to over 31 million in about a year (Information provided from Gamecrate.com).

The story of the game focuses around “Overwatch”, a world peacekeeping task force, and its members who have ridiculously amazing abilities.

What all is Free?

Well, in short, everything.

Players who participate in Free Weekend will have access to all 26 players (including the newest character Moira), all 16 maps, and every gameplay mode including custom and arcade. The game will function as usual and players will be able to level up, earn loot, and unlock customization options that will stay with the player should they choose to purchase the game after their trial run. Current players of the game will also be able to participate in the free fun and will have access to all unlockable content, any new progress made during the weekend will be saved to your file as it normally would.

Are there any restrictions?

Unfortunately, yes.

In order for PC players to participate in Free Weekend you must download and install the Blizzard Battle.net desktop app, for PlayStation 4 players you must have a PlayStation Plus Membership, and for Xbox One owners you must have Xbox Gold Membership.

Players from regions other than the Americas, Europe, select parts of Asia, and Australia will not have access to Free Weekend.

And, obviously, the free game play does end after the weekend.

Who's ready for the Weekend?

Blizzard is expecting to see a huge influx of players during Free Weekend, and they expect many of the players to commit to the game after it ends. Personally, I am excited to meet the potentially thousands or millions of new players and watch the Overwatch community, and fandom, grow.