Overwatch update: Big changes coming with PS4 and Xbox One cosmetic release?

A new Overwatch update is being released today, which will include all the  skins and cosmetics Blizzard have been teasing this past week.

This new patch will be going live on PS4 and Xbox One later today and could also include some major hero rebalances too.

The development team have not released a changelog confirming all the changes yet, which could certainly spice things up for Mercy players.

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

As you can imagine, these are pretty big tweaks, and come with the usual developer explanation.

“Mercy’s recent Resurrect changes have helped in allowing enemies to have more counter play in dealing with her, but she was able to use Resurrect through Valkyrie enough to largely mitigate the impact of the previous changes,” the patch notes confirm.

“Additionally, we’re toning back the amount of mobility Valkyrie provides through Guardian Angel and reducing its duration to overall reduce the power of this ability.

“We will likely be iterating on these changes in the coming weeks.”

While we know that the new Overwatch Skins will be going live tomorrow, game director provided an update on whether we might see something in the way of balance changes as well.

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 today, 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.