In a hilarious and bizarre Overwatch 2 glitch, a player found themselves in a completely empty match, leading to an unforgettable solo moonwalking payload escort.
I never thought I'd experience something so bizarre in Overwatch 2, but here we are in 2026, and I'm still laughing about that peculiar match I had a few years back. Let me tell you about the time I ended up in a completely empty online match—just me, the payload, and the eerie silence of Watchpoint: Gibraltar.
It happened right after that massive August 2023 update, the one that nerfed Illari and supposedly fixed a ton of bugs. Ironically, that same patch created some of the strangest server anomalies I've ever encountered.
I queued up for a standard match, anticipating the usual chaos of team fights and objective struggles. The game loaded, I selected my main man Lúcio, ready to wall-ride and boop enemies off the map. But something felt... off. The countdown timer hit zero, the barriers dropped, and I skated out—only to find absolutely no one else in the match.
'Hello?' I typed in match chat. No response. 'Anyone there?' Silence.
I cautiously approached the payload, half-expecting a Sombra to materialize and hack me. Nothing happened. I touched the payload, and it started moving. That's when the absurdity of the situation hit me: I was in a fully functioning online match... completely alone.
What does one do in such a situation? Win, obviously! 😂
I decided to make the most of this glitch and put on a show for myself. I activated Lúcio's iconic Moonwalk emote and escorted the payload through the entire map while moonwalking backward. The juxtaposition of Michael Jackson's smooth moves against the backdrop of a post-apocalyptic battlefield was both hilarious and strangely poetic.
The highlight of this bizarre adventure came at the end when the game awarded me Play of the Game for... well, doing absolutely nothing except moonwalking with a hovering truck. The POTG intro played, the dramatic music swelled, and there I was—backward-sliding a payload with zero resistance. Probably the easiest POTG in Overwatch history!
The Community's Reaction
When I posted the footage online, the Overwatch community went wild. Comments poured in:
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"This is the most peaceful Overwatch match I've ever seen!"
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"Lúcio single-handedly winning the objective while channeling his inner Michael Jackson is peak Overwatch content."
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"I wish my competitive matches were this easy..."
Many players shared their own server glitch stories. One particularly heartwarming tale involved two teams who, when the server failed to backfill leavers, decided to work together to help each other unlock achievements instead of fighting. It's these moments of community that remind me why I've stuck with Overwatch through its ups and downs.
What Caused This Ghost Match?
Looking back from 2026, we now know a lot more about what happened. The patch that introduced Illari to competitive play created a rare matchmaking anomaly where players could be placed in instances that failed to populate with other users.
The developers later explained it as a "session initialization error where player allocation protocols completed successfully but the actual player data transfer failed." In simpler terms: the game thought it had filled my match with players, but none of them actually loaded in.
Overwatch's Evolution Since Then
It's fascinating to think about how much Overwatch has changed since that ghostly match in 2023. Season 6: Invasion was just getting started back then, introducing those massive Flashpoint maps and Story Missions that have since become staples of the game.
Three years later, Overwatch has expanded tremendously:
| Feature | 2023 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Heroes | 38 | 47 |
| Maps | 25 | 34 |
| Game Modes | 7 | 12 |
| Story Content | Just beginning | Fully developed narrative |
The game has certainly had its growing pains—remember the uproar when they temporarily removed 2CP maps from rotation in 2024? Or the controversial "Ultimate Economy Overhaul" of 2025 that changed how ultimate abilities charged?
Lessons From The Void
That empty match taught me something important about Overwatch: sometimes the most memorable moments aren't the clutch plays or the team wipes, but the unexpected glitches and quirks that remind us we're playing a constantly evolving game.
In my years of playing competitive games, I've realized that these bizarre experiences often become our favorite stories. The time I moonwalked a payload across Gibraltar with no opposition has become my go-to Overwatch anecdote at gaming gatherings.
Final Thoughts
As we move through 2026, Overwatch continues to surprise and evolve. The recent Hero Mastery Challenges and the Dynamic Weather System on maps have added new dimensions to gameplay that we couldn't have imagined back in 2023.
But no matter how sophisticated the game becomes, I'll always cherish that surreal solo match—my personal moment of zen in a game typically defined by chaos and competition. Sometimes winning isn't about outplaying your opponents; sometimes it's just about moonwalking a payload across an empty map and appreciating the absurdity of it all.
And if you ever find yourself in a similar glitch? Embrace it! Do something memorable. After all, in the constantly changing landscape of online gaming, these strange moments are often the ones we remember most fondly. 🎮✨