Battleborn calls out Overwatch: "COME AT ME BRO"

Blizzard recently announced that the open beta for Overwatch will drop on May 3, which just so happens to be the planned release date for Gearbox's own summer shooter, Battleborn.

This shared date of significance is unlikely to be a coincidence on Blizzard's part. The two games which are both highly stylised, larger than life first-person shooters that share similar features (from account progression through to cosmetic loot rewards).

Blizzard's announcement means the two are in direct competition for the spring slot. However there's nothing wrong with a bit of healthy competition, and Gearbox seems to have embraced this as the official Twitter account for Battleborn threw down with a Tweet directed at the Overwatch team simply saying: "come at me bro."

Blizzard replied with their own Tweet , this one starring one of Overwatch's more serious characters, Zenyatta. "The universe embraces us all, bro. See you in May!" says the response.

A follow-up message from the Battleborn account pointed out that spring is going to be awash with hero-shooters, with Battleborn and Overwatch also going up against Epic's Paragon and Motiga's Gigantic during the same period of time.

While Overwatch launches fully until May 23, anyone who pre-orders the game will have access to the open beta period from May 3 until its conclusion on May 9. Both Battleborn and Overwatch are available for pre-order now and will be available to play on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.