Blizzard details planned Overwatch 2 changes following beta’s first week

Blizzard has revealed a number of planned Overwatch 2 changes following the first week of the game’s technical beta.

In the first in a series of planned weekly updates, the studio outlined what it has learned so far and how player feedback is shaping its development plans.

While Blizzard claimed “most heroes are falling into a healthy range overall for play rate and win rate across different skill levels”, it said it has identified several outliers which will be targeted in a balance patch scheduled for later this week.

“We have heard clearly that support players feel both tanks and damage players have more new content to enjoy and explore in this Beta. Longer term, we believe the most effective way to tackle this issue is to add exciting new support heroes to the game, and that is part of our plans.”

Blizzard said existing support heroes may receive new and refreshed abilities later during this beta test, but that these are more likely to be implemented in the game’s next test.

Running until May 17, the current Overwatch 2 beta will only be available for PC, but Blizzard has said it plans to include console players in future tests.

The beta includes access to Overwatch 2’s 5v5 PvP mode, the new Push Mode, Ping System, four hero reworks (Orisa, Doomfist, Bastion, Sombra), one new hero (Sojourn), all OW1 maps and four new maps (Circuit Royal, Midtown, Toronto and Rome).

Blizzard has retired both the Fire and Medal systems for Overwatch 2, which includes a reworked scoreboard screen “that mirrors other competitive games and sports”.

It said: “For Overwatch 2, players can expect the new Scoreboard screen to display key statistics in real time for all players in the game. These statistics include eliminations, assists, deaths, damage, damage mitigated, and healing.

“The team may also look at reworking the Fire system sometime in the future to complement the scoreboard system as we believe it can provide excitement for high-performing players.”

Blizzard said in November that both Overwatch 2 and Diablo 4 had been delayed to at least 2023.