I've said this before and I'll say it again, I love this new open and talkative team Blizzard has assembled for Overwatch. After years of getting the silent treatment from WoW and SC2 developers its so very refreshing to once again have confidence in Blizzard.

In a recently released blog post Jeff Kaplan, game director for Overwatch, discussed the current state of the game and what features we can expect in the upcoming mid-February closed beta test. Here's a short summary:

As you might have guessed from the title the beta release date has been pushed back from the end of January in to mid-February but don't be too sad about the delay as the reason for it is quite exciting:

"While progress has been great and the team has been working super hard to get everything implemented on time, we're not quite ready to bring the Closed Beta back online just yet.

We’ve been pretty open about the fact that we could slip into February from the beginning, but a big reason for this delay is that we really wanted to add one more big feature to the next beta patch."

The big feature Kaplan is talking about is the as of yet unannounced new game mode. Apparently one of the main complaints Blizzard has received over the past few beta tests is the lack of variety so they have opted to delay the beta test for a couple of weeks in order to not just add a new game mode but to a couple of maps designed for it as well.

However, the new game mode and maps aren't the only major feature that will be coming with this Overwatch beta, the third iteration of the progression system will also be present. Kaplan has discussed this in a previous article but long story short it will be completely based around cosmetic effects and the "coolness" factor without punishing players for switching characters to fit the changing battlefield conditions.

All of these features will still be a work in progress once the beta launches but Blizzard wanted to get them in the hands of testers as soon as possible in order to gather some valuable feedback on which direction to take the game in from there. In other words, if you manage to get in don't complain about the bugs but instead report them and ensure that they don't stick around for long.

The next closed beta is set for mid-February and while no actual date was given there will be an announcement a week before it goes live. If you would like to opt-in for a chance at the Overwatch beta head over here though be warned, there are plenty of people wanting to get in and so very few actual spots. And if you missed it, here's the theatrical trailer released last month: