Overwatch’s newest hero, the combat medic Baptiste, was revealed yesterday. Blizzard first showed Baptiste in an origin story video published on Overwatch’s official Twitter and YouTube accounts, which also tells a bit of the character’s backstory.
But Blizzard skipped the part about Baptiste’s release date in Overwatch.
Fortunately, Blizzard revealed this Tuesday that Baptiste is now available in the PTR. That means he will likely stay there for three weeks before being released in the live servers. Here’s why.
Baptiste’s reveal came out of nowhere. It happened after a single teaser was published four days before, it happened in the early evening instead of in the usual early afternoon, and Blizzard revealed no additional information about Baptiste other than what was in the trailer.
But Baptiste will be seen first in the Overwatch test servers before going to the live servers, as his release follows the usual schedule of new hero additions in the game. That means players who want to test Baptiste will have to download the Overwatch PTR and try to play with Baptiste in casual online matches.
Baptiste would then go to the live servers about three weeks later, possibly with a few tweaks to his healing and damage numbers if needed, and certainly with bug fixes that should be plenty in a test period.
So far, his live server release date is pure speculation. As noted, since Baptiste is already in the PTR, he will likely be added to the main servers in the second half of March. We will update this story as we get more information about Baptiste’s release.
