Blizzard’s Overwatch 2 Director Opens Up on “Team Changes” Before Season 9

In a recent blog post, Aaron Keller, the game director of Overwatch, discussed the changes that have been made to the game and expressed gratitude for the talented individuals who have worked on the team. Keller emphasized the importance of maintaining open lines of communication with the community and shared some exciting updates for Season 9.

One of the major changes coming to Competitive mode is a reworked system that aims to improve rank transparency, introduce new skill tiers, and offer new competitive rewards. The team’s goal is to make the system more understandable and informative for players. To achieve this, they have implemented updates to a player’s rank after every match and included additional information about why their rating has changed. They have also provided more details about the skill range of players in a particular match.

The revamped system not only aims to provide more clarity but also to incentivize players to improve and climb the ranks. Competitive points will now be awarded more consistently throughout the season, allowing players to unlock new Jade weapons. Additionally, a new exclusive tier called Champion has been introduced above Grandmaster.

The team has already begun receiving feedback on the system and has plans to make further improvements. These include providing more information about player skill in a match, allowing players from different divisions to play together more easily, and enhancing the Top 500 experience. Players can expect these improvements to roll out during Season 9.

Season 9 will also bring a significant set of gameplay changes to Overwatch. These changes aim to address community concerns such as improving shooting mechanics, reducing burst damage and in-combat healing, and giving Damage heroes more agency in securing eliminations. The team has made adjustments to hero health pools to reduce the impact of burst damage and has increased the size of projectiles to make landing shots easier. They have also introduced a new passive ability for Damage heroes that decreases healing done to players they have damaged recently, giving them an advantage in securing kills.

These changes are expected to have a profound impact on the game’s meta and the team will closely monitor the launch of Season 9 to make further adjustments based on player feedback.

Keller also mentioned that the team will address other topics in future blog posts, including the Quick Play: Hacked event. He expressed excitement about sharing their thoughts and updates with the community.

In closing, Keller emphasized the team’s commitment to making a great game and incorporating feedback from players. The changes being made to Overwatch are a direct result of this feedback, and the team is dedicated to involving the community in their development process.

Stay tuned for more updates and let’s continue to make Overwatch an amazing game!