Blizzard announced that players can get a first look at its online competitive first-person shooter Overwatch when a closed beta launches for Windows PCs later this month.
The beta marks the first time that Overwatch will be publicly playable, following its reveal at BlizzCon 2014.
Overwatch is a squad-based FPS that pits teams of six players against one another in a series of competitive arena matches. The game boasts a wide variety of playable characters, each of whom boast a unique weapons loadout and supplementary abilities that help out nearby teammates mid-battle.
“We’re aiming to accomplish two primary goals with our public beta test,” Blizzard notes. “First, get tons of top-notch feedback on the gameplay — including balance, feel, and fun — to help us make Overwatch the best team-based shooter on the planet. Second, we want to hammer the heck out of our tech, including stress-testing our server infrastructure and making sure the game runs great on the widest variety of systems possible.”
Overwatch‘s upcoming beta will divide players into two groups. Closed Beta participants will “discuss and dissect every hero, map, ability, and other aspect of the game on our upcoming beta forums,” Blizzard explains, while players accepted into Beta Test Weekends will serve as a stress test for the game’s servers.
Closed Beta spots are “extremely limited,” Blizzard notes, in order to encourage constructive feedback. Additional Closed Beta openings will be available periodically as testing continues, but Blizzard warns that many players who apply will only be eligible for Beta Test Weekends.
Beta Test Weekends will feature a limited number of playable maps and characters, and will roll out in many different regions throughout the duration of Blizzard’s testing phase. The first Beta Test Weekend is scheduled to kick off after BlizzCon 2015 wraps up in November.
Players can sign up for Overwatch‘s Closed Beta and Beta Test Weekends at Blizzard’s website.
Apple is less than a day away from launching its highly anticipated OLED MacBook Pro with a touch-sensitive screen. But it appears that the upgrade is going to cost a pretty penny. According to a report by Bloomberg, Apple is reportedly eyeing a starting price of $2,899 for the 14-inch MacBook Pro, while the 16-inch version could start at $3,399 in the US.
"At $2,899, the 14-inch model would mark the highest starting price for a new MacBook Pro model, surpassing the $2,799 Apple charged for a 17-inch version introduced in 2006," says the report. The report claims that Apple is targeting a minimum price hike of $400 for its upcoming redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.
I've spent a good amount of time digging into the spec sheet of the new M6 MacBook Pro (14-inch), and for all intents and purposes, this is a classic Apple "chip and connectivity" refresh. It's not a full redesign. The chassis, Liquid Retina XDR panel, speakers, ports, and battery, all of them carry over unchanged.
However, the M6 brings more cores, stronger on-device AI, higher memory bandwidth on the larger configs, and modern wireless. Here’s the practical rundown of what actually improved, and whether those gains are worth your money.
Two new highly requested iCloud plugins just got added to ChatGPT, giving people who rely on Apple’s Mail and Calendar services a way to search emails, check appointments, and manage their schedules directly through the chatbot.
The integration is rolling out to all ChatGPT plans, including the free tier. You can access it on the web, desktop, and iOS.