Today’s big news is that the new Overwatch skins are now live on PS4, Xbox One and PC. Fans can also check out the new map: Blizzard World, which is the other big release for today.
The Overwatch patch notes have this to say about both:
New Assault/Escort Map: Blizzard World: Relive where you took your first steps in Azeroth, where you confronted the Lord of Terror, and where you spawned your first zerg rush—all of these epic memories come together on Overwatch’s newest Assault/Escort hybrid map, Blizzard World!
This theme park brings the magic of Blizzard’s many worlds into one place so your most epic memories can come to life as you attack and defend the payload across Azeroth, Tristram, and the Koprulu Sector.
The Blizzard World map will be disabled in Competitive Play until the start of Season 9. It will be available in Quick Play and Custom Games starting today.
Cosmetics Update: Starting now, loot boxes have been infused with over 100 cosmetics inspired by Blizzard World, Overwatch animated shorts, and more!
Collect new legendary skins, including: Barbarian Zarya, Black Cat D.Va, Crusader Reinhardt, Ecopoint: Antarctica Mei, Kabuki Hanzo, and emotes such as Mercy’s Parasol, Sombra’s Marioneta, and Tracer’s Bomb Spin. Additionally, players will discover new highlight intros like Bastion’s Reconfigure, Soldier: 76’s Lights Out, Winston’s Roll, and many more.”
And while the patch notes also contain new bugfixes, they don’t include the recent PTR changes.
The latest Overwatch PTR build went live on PC earlier this month, bringing with it another round of changes for the healer.
It’s been a long road for the character, who has seen a lot of updates over the past few months.
Trying to balance her resurrecting skills has become a major mission for the Blizzard team, and a bit of a headache for players.
This latest Blizzard PTR update sees changes made to Mercy’s Valkyrie abilities, although these are still only available on the game’s test servers.
This includes:
- No longer making Resurrect instant
- No longer granting a bonus charge of Resurrect
- The speed boost that Guardian Angel receives has been decreased by 50%
- Duration reduced from 20 seconds to 15 seconds
But while these weren’t included in new today’s update, the Overwatch game director Jeff Kaplan has confirmed another patch will be along soon.
Speaking on the subject of the recent balance changes on the PTR coming into effect, Kaplan explained: “The map and the loot box items will come out together.
“My guess (and this is not a promise… just trying to be real here) is that any balance changes will drop shortly after.
“The map/items are already in console certification but the balance changes have not yet been submitted as we are still evaluating them.”
So it sounds like we might see these new changes arrive this week, or perhaps a little later in the month.
And there’s no guarantee that they will stay the same as those found in the patch notes above, with Blizzard having the option to make as many changes as they want.