[EDIT: a dev confirmed to me that their audio team is on it]
The footstep audio is not working properly. all footsteps sound like they are very close/are too loud. Issue only started with the new season 3 patch.
PC/Win11
Headphones
Spatial Audio: System Settings (None)
Audio Mix: Studio Reference
No settings changed between season 2 and 3
Iām also experiencing this. Enemy footsteps sound like theyāve lost directionality and I canāt place how far they are from me at all. I also noticed that mercy res had no audio at all when I was around 5 metres away and watching it happen. Audio has always been stellar so itās immediately apparent when itās off.
thx for confirming! <3 for me its actually unplayable at the moment sadly ā¦ i cant coordinate without proper audio placement ^^ hope it gets hotfixed fingers crossed
Honestly I noticed it immediately. I rely so much on audio itās throwing me off so bad 
I created a post as well to bring more attention to this! I think Iāll stop until itās fixed as well which is a shame as I was quite excited for s3!
I was wondering if I was imagining this or it was real. Definitely noticeable.
This also throws me off. I use Beyerdynamics 770 pro, and their frequency response curve is flat and detailed, meaning that footsteps already popped out very clearly before this change. Many gaming headsets are more heavy on low end, and may not experience this issue as much as a result.
Though that even the āStudio referenceā mix setting has footsteps this loud seems like a mistake/bug, since the other options offer louder footsteps and high compression in general for people that need that due to crappy speakers or headphones, or preference in balance/volume.
Right now Widow, Mercy, and a few more sound like they are using shoes that are a mix in between step dance shoes and dutch wooden shoes. CLOMP CLOMP CLOMP CLOMP even when they are far away. I think something is bugged with spatial audio.
its the 3d directional audio in the engine ā¦ but yeah you described it perfectly and i am glad that iām not the only one ^^ higher chance it gets fixed faster 
BTW, Iāve never been able to get a good sense of vertical direction with the spatial audio, only horizontal. Is there something Iām missing or is it a feature?
vertical audio is always tricky ā¦ so no you arent missing anything ā¦ its mostly map knowledge that tells you if they are above or below you
Yeah, in some circumstances (most notably in deathmatch) it can be impossible to tell if an enemy is straight ahead or below or above. But youāre absolutely right that experience can usually figure it out
Yeah, this is definitely a problem right now. I spent my last two ranked games staring at doorways like an idiot because my audio was telling me Reaper or whoever was right there.
Itās a bit like the Tracer falloff bug - as soon as youāre in range to hear an enemy, their audio is full volume no matter how far away they are within that range.
My settings are usually dolby atmos on/studio reference (w/akg k702s, windows 10) but itās no better with atmos off or with the normal āheadphonesā setting.
Had the same bug last night, spent a full minute trying to figure out where the Widow I could hear was because she sounded WAY closer than she actually was.
Same , a dev response is almost needed.
Just adding to your post.
Iāve been experiencing this too.
Enemy footstep are always loud, and lack any sense of direction or distance.
Same issue.
Between this sound issue and the aim sensitivity being broken the game is simply competitively unplayable.
You couldnāt make a more fundamental mistake then messing up the aim sensitivity, followed up by making the sounds locations misleading.
Its beyond rookie and game breaking at the same time.
a dev confirmed to me their audio team is working on the footstep audio <3
Anyone else experiencing an issue where you get NO footsteps or shots at all? I canāt even hear teammates quips and it isnāt my setting, I triple checked them
Thank god they are fixing it, the game just got good and I was just getting back into it and fully happy with it, as were MANY others. :0
It seems fixed again as of this last patch , just so you guys know blizz and players.
not for me, its really loud still. sounds like a stampede coming your way from gods knows where.