Blizzard has announced that they hope to launch the new Overwatch Experimental Mode this week across all platforms. For the past few years, only PC gamers have been able to test out early patches via the PTR servers. But the Overwatch team has announced its plans to change how they do things, starting with the new Experimental Mode. Unlike the Overwatch PTR, Experimental Mode will be a platform in which Blizzard tests out new gameplay styles for the game.
There will be no focus on fixing bugs or removing annoying glitches and will instead be looking at radical new ways to play the game.
These changes are not permanent and they may never be brought into the normal modes people play.
But they will give Blizzard and the Overwatch development team the chance to look at ways to change how the game plays.
NEW OVERWATCH UPDATE ON PS4 AND XBOX ONE
Blizzard has announced that the new Experimental Mode has a scheduled release date in Overwatch for Tuesday, February 25, 2020.
But game director Jeff Kaplan has also warned that a delay, even at this late stage, is possible.
Barring any last minute problems, a new Overwatch update will be released tomorrow across Ps4, Xbox One and PC.
As mentioned above, Experimental Mode will be available on consoles too, creating a much wider net of players to test out the latest changes.
No launch time has been confirmed and there’s a good chance that even if there was one, the release could be delayed beyond it.
Based on how Blizzard has handled updates in the past, we would predict that the new Overwatch update will be available to download by 8pm, GMT.
There’s a good chance it will be available before this time, if everything runs smoothly with tomorrow’s launch.
Experimental Mode will be the main of tomorrow’s update and Jeff Kaplan has confirmed that the first trial will be for Triple Damage mode.
The Mode removes one tank from the usual formula and adds the slot to the DPS section.
According to the latest news, this is being tested out as a way to gauge how it will affect the long queue times for DPS.
Players will still earn normal XP while playing Experimental Mode and there will probably be a full list of balance changes shared just for Triple Damage.
Other changes are also expected and should be shared in full patch notes when the update is live.
It sounds like Blizzard is preparing for a small overhaul to Workshop Mode, telling fans earlier this week:
“Thanks to everyone who helped us test the new Workshop features in the 1.45 PTR.
“We were able to fix many of the issues that you identified, and we hope that this leads to a smoother launch of 1.45.
“If you have Custom Game creations that you would like to carry forward to the live game, please copy them out of Overwatch and into a text file (since user data from the PTR is not carried over into live).
“You can copy your mode by going into the Settings for your Custom Game and clicking the Copy button in the upper-right. You can then paste the mode as text into any text editor.
“Once the patch goes live, you can restore your mode by copying your saved text onto the clipboard, navigating to the Custom Game Settings, and clicking the orange Paste button in the upper-right.”