The closed beta for Blizzard Entertainment’s highly anticipated team-based shooter, Overwatch, will finally be returning in “mid-February,” and Blizzard says that it has plenty of new content to show for its months-long hiatus.

Blizzard admitted that the Overwatch beta is returning a bit later than it had originally intended.

“When we brought the Closed Beta offline last December, we did so with the intent to use the downtime to address player feedback, work on some core features (like progression!), and adjust the balance of the game,” Blizzard wrote on the Overwatch blog. “Our goal was to have all of that work completed before bringing the Closed Beta back online, and our hope was to have that goal complete by middle to late January.”

Beta delayed for a new game mode

According to Blizzard, the beta is nearly ready to return, but it is being delayed until February because the studio “really wanted to add one more big feature to the next beta patch.”

“After looking through all of the feedback from last year, one of the things we noticed players consistently mentioning was their desire for more game modes in Overwatch, in addition to Point Capture and Payload,” Blizzard said. “Without getting into specifics, we are working on a new game mode. And we’re very excited about it! And we have some great new maps to support it, too, but we need a little more time to get everything just right.”

Blizzard noted that aside from being able to include the new game mode, the delay will also allow the studio to further polish Overwatch’s new progression and rewards system.

While the studio could not give an exact date for when the Overwatch beta will be back, it estimated sometime in “mid-February” and assured fans that it does no intend to let it get pushed back into March.

Image credit: Overwatch courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.