Overwatch 2 is coming and with it cross-progression. Those who play on console or PC will need a battle.net account to play the game, meaning you’ll have to merge your console account to a new or existing Battle.net account and merge all of what you’ve earned thus far in Overwatch.

Here’s how cross-progression will work for Overwatch 2

With cross-progression active, Overwatch 2 players will be able to play the game a in different platforms with just one Battle.net account, having access to everything available in that account anywhere you play. This will require a merge between your console account and your battle.net account.

Starting August 17, players that play Overwatch on a console will see a prompt suggesting you to merge your account with a Battle.net account. Once you pick which accounts to merge, that signals Blizzard to prepare your account to be merged during the release of Overwatch 2 on October 4. The merge will be available for PlayStation, Xbox, PC, and Nintendo Switch accounts.

Here are the steps to merge your console account to a battle.net account.

Login to Overwatch from your console account.
Follow the on-screen prompts to scan a QR Code on your mobile phone.
Enter the code displayed on your console to connect to or create your Blizzard Battle.net Account.
Once complete, you will be prompted to confirm your account upon the next game login to merge your accounts.

For PC players, you don’t have to do much as you are already using a battle.net account to play the game.

The merging of console accounts to a battle.net account is said to be easy with no loss of cosmetic items, rank, presets, or currency as they will simply sum everything together. Player stats will also be retained and this is what Blizzard has said on how they will handle your statistics.

“Gameplay statistics are separated by input pool.”

“A few things happen for players who merge multiple console accounts. Total values, like playtime or number of wins, will be summed. Best values, like hero accuracy or kill streaks, will take the highest value from the merged accounts.”

Achievements done on consoles will also be retained when merged with a battle.net account, though console specific achievements will remain on the console.

But what if you don’t want to merge accounts?

Well, according to Blizzard, you need a battle.net account once Overwatch 2 goes live, and if you want to keep everything you’ve gained before, best to do the merge when you can.

“Players from all platforms will need a battle.net account to play Overwatch 2.”

“For console players, account merge is also the only way to access and carry over progress into Overwatch 2.”

“For PC players, progress will automatically carry over into Overwatch 2, and you have the option to merge any console accounts to your battle.net account.”

“If you don’t confirm your account merge in-game, you will continue to be served an in-game screen that identifies your accounts and prompts approval to merge.”

If you are somehow in a position that requires you to unlink your console accounts after merging with your Battle.net account, you can do so any time though Blizzard will apply a 1-year cooldown on that request. Linking a new console account to your battle.net account gives you access to the progression and in-game items of the battle.net account, but the new console account will not transfer its progress and in-game items to the linked account.

The big merge is a one time deal it seems, likely preventing people from merging multiple console accounts with different cosmetics and progression into one battle.net account, so if you have multiple accounts, best to pick which one will be your primary one.

You can read more about the merging accounts for Overwatch 2’s cross-progression in their FAQ.

The multiplayer portion of Overwatch 2 will go live and will be free-to-play on October 4 on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC.

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