Loading issue Patch 2.13.1.1.132779

I have been troubleshooting trying to resolve a Loading issue when I load into and out of games

I have never run into this issue before while using this machine - which I have been using to play OW2 since Dec 2022

This issue takes many forms but they all appear to be linked:
Character models not appearing in-game (Floating balls)
Character models appearing, but being shaded strangely (Constant shadows)
HUD elements such as abilities, Ultimate information, killcams & killfeed, team overlay, crosshair and Weapon Models not appearing
Sounds not occurring either for myself or for affected enemies
GUI elements such as the Pause Menu and Hero Selection not appearing
Finally - being unable to load POTG or into the main menu on match completion causing an infinite black screen

This issue is affecting me in all modes, even the Practice range and can cause me to be stuck in the lobby forcing me to Alt + F4 out of the game

I thought this issue was performance-based and began to test while adjusting my video settings which are typically set to Medium on 2560x1440 with a frame average of 150 according to my AMD Adrenalin report - This feels nice on my 144hz monitor and I have not had any issues with these settings in the past using this machine (Since Christmas 2022)

When this issue is occurring it is not affecting my performance in any way that I can tell- The framerate remains stable and all functions are as normal - for example during infinite black screens my framerate will remain stable at 60 - and during gameplay even when the models aren’t loading my framerate remains stable at 150

I begun to suspect that my game may load faster when the video settings were lowered:

So I tested with all settings on Low (No Antialiasing or V-Sync) still at 2560 x 1440 - To no avail I still saw the model loading issue - My framerate remained stable at 175 throughout gameplay, however I was unable to change heroes or pause the game and I got my first warning for leaving Quickplay matches

I tested with all settings on Low (Everything turned off if possible) at 1920 x 1080- When no issues appeared in training range I made the mistake of testing in Quickplay once more - despite framerate remaining stable at a fixed 300 throughout gameplay portions, and everything appearing normal for the first 2 minutes, the model loading issue began mid-match after my Juno swapped to Kiri in the 2nd round - She began to appear as a floating ball until the end of the match and from that point until the end of the game anyone who swapped heroes was appearing as a floating ball/not making sounds and before the end of the match my HUD elements had disappeared- I played through the whole match to ensure I wouldn’t get a leaver penalty but I got an infinite black screen and had to Alt + F4 out upon match completion - So of course I decided to do any testing beyond Training range in vs. AI queue for the rest of the troubleshooting

At this point, I tested again using the same settings after Repairing my installation - but got the infinite black screen in training range this time, not even getting to a match - with framerate results remaining the same

I uninstalled the game at this point, and did a full fresh reinstall

Finally, I tested with all settings on Low (Everything turned off if possible) at 1280 x 720 - this didn’t give me a noticeable frame jump I only maintain 320-ish FPS but I didn’t notice any issues in training range - so I tested it through a full match of Player vs. AI queue and didn’t notice a single issue - So I went to quickplay feeling hopeful and I played four in a row with no issues - but out of nowhere I got an infinite black screen - and had to stop for the night after a 2-hour temporary suspension for Frequent Leaving

If these issues continue to occur I will be forced into the play against AI queue permanently and I have genuinely NEVER played that mode before yesterday - I have over 2,000 games of Quickplay I just want to play Quickplay

What is going on with this game’s optimization that I had to adjust my settings to genuine Potato Mode in order to cross my fingers and hope it doesn’t crash for a whole match - no previous patch has ever effected my game in this way and I am genuinely at a loss for what to do

I have been adjusting my video settings and troubleshooting and cannot manage to resolve this issue - an issue that I have only begun to encounter as of the most recent patch 12/3/2024

I have begun to suspect it is the most recent patch which is causing this issue - however I just need assistance with resolving it. Any feedback is appreciated

Windows 10 64-Bit
24 GB DDR4 (3600MHz/3200MHz)
AMD Ryzen 7 5700X 8-Core 3.4 Ghz
AMD Radeon RX 580 w/ 8GB VRAM GDDR5 (2000MHz)

This means the game can’t get the assets fast enough to produce the characters. Usually it happens because of a connection problem, slow hardware, or a driver problem.

Open your netgraph (ctrl+shift+N). Large orange spikes are connection problems, large white spikes are processing issues on the computer.