Overwatch Dev Post Archives & Overwatch 2 Facts & Beta Info

[Kaedi-11739]

Game Features and Functions

Competitive Play | Skill Rating

COMPETITIVE SEASON NEWS BLOGS

• NEWS POST - Beta Competitive Play
• NEWS POST - Competitive Season 1(Progression Tiers Removed, Sudden Death Rules Changed, Rewards Added)
• NEWS POST - Competitive Season 2 (SR Scale & Tier Revamp, CP Revamp, Time Bank Rules Added, Sudden Death Removed, Increased Penalties)
• NEWS POST - Competitive Season 3 (Rank resets removed, SR slightly decreases from ending SR)
• NEWS POST - Competitive Season 4 (Defensive Spawn Timer Rules Introduced)
• NEWS POST - Competitive Season 5 (no major changes)
• NEWS POST - Competitive Season 6 (Seasons now two months, CP payout adjustments, Diamond and lower now drop to lower tiers, SR decay reductions, changes to SR adjustments, SR starting decreases removed, control maps now best out of 3)
• NEWS POST - Competitive Season 7 (No major changes)
• NEWS POST - Competitive Season 8 (PBSR Removed for Diamond and higher ranks, Matchmaking now also follows Group SR restrictions)
• NEWS POST - Competitive Season 9 (No major changes)
• NEWS POST - Competitive Season 10 (No major changes)
• NEWS POST - Competitive Season 11 (SMS Protect required for PC Top 500)
• NEWS POST - Competitive Season 12 (Avoid As Teammate increases to 3, Grand Masters can now pair within 350 SR [up from 250])
• NEWS POST - Competitive Season 13 (no major changes)
• NEWS POST - Competitive Season 14 (no major changes)
• FORUM ANNOUNCEMENT - Competitive Season 15 (no more offseason)
• FORUM ANNOUNCEMENT - Competitive Season 16 (grouping up in Grand Masters limited to parties of 2 or less)
• FORUM ANNOUNCEMENT - Competitive Season 18 (Role Queue now live)
• FORUM ANNOUNCEMENT - Competitive Season 19 (Introducing Map Rotation)
• FORUM ANNOUNCEMENT - Competitive Season 20 (No major changes)
• FORUM ANNOUNCEMENT - Competitive Season 21 (Hero Pools)
• FORUM ANNOUNCEMENT - Competitive Season 24 (No major changes)
• FORUM ANNOUNCEMENT - Competitive Season 25 (No major changes)
• FORUM ANNOUNCEMENT - Competitive Season 26 (No major changes)
• FORUM ANNOUNCEMENT - Competitive Season 27 (No major changes)
• FORUM ANNOUNCEMENT - Competitive Season 28 (No major changes)
• FORUM ANNOUNCEMENT - Competitive Season 29 (No major changes)
• FORUM ANNOUNCEMENT - Competitive Season 30 (No major changes)
• FORUM ANNOUNCEMENT - Competitive Season 31 (No major changes)
• FORUM ANNOUNCEMENT - Competitive Season 32 (No major changes)
• FORUM ANNOUNCEMENT - Competitive Season 33 (No major changes)

COMPETITIVE MODE ANNOUNCEMENTS AND RULE CHANGES

• Season 27 Top 500 Qualifcation started earlier due to the original season launch bug - Josh Nash - 3/9/2020 - Official Forums
• Season 26 Extended Due to a bug - Josh Nash - 3/4/2020 - Official Forums
• Introducting Permanent Open Queue for Competitive Play - Michael Heiberg - 7/2/2020 - News Post
• Refining Hero Pools and Retiring Map Pools - Scott Mercer - 4/9/2020 - News Post
• Grouping up in Grand Masters now limited to parties of 2 or less - Scott Mercer - 4/29/2019 - Official Forums
• Groups and Matchmaking in Overwatch - Scott Mercer clarifies the misconceptions that grouping up in Competitive Overwatch is a disadvantage and addresses the benefits to grouping up - Scott Mercer - 6/20/2018 - Official Forums
• New/rework content is now available in Competitive two weeks from the release of that content instead of next of the next season - Scott Mercer - 5/22/2018 - Official Forums
• Overwatch Technical Issues, SR Loss, and Leaver Penalties - Drakuloth - 4/8/2018 - Official Forums
• New heroes and maps are available in the next Competitive Season from the release of that content instead of a week from release (this has since been updated to two weeks after release) - Scott Mercer - 3/16/2018 - Official Forums
• Season 8 Changes: Removal of Performance-Based Skill Rating in Diamond and Higher, Limited Skill Rating Variances in Matchmaking - Scott Mercer - 12/8/2017 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan reveals they have long term plans to improve the Competitive Experience - Jeff Kaplan - 10/27/2017 - Old Official Forums
• Details on the Revised 33% Minimum Assault Tie-Breaker Rules- Scott Mercer - 4/19/2017 - Old Official Forums
• Support Skill Rating Misconceptions, Details on Skill Rating Adjustments- Scott Mercer - 4/18/2017 - Old Official Forums
• Reducing Win Streak Multipliers in SR Adjustments - Scott Mercer - 4/12/2017 - Old Official Forums
• Competitive Play Season 6 Changes - Jeff Kaplan - 8/22/2017 - Developer Update Video
• Season 4 Changes - Tightening on matchmaking group variances - Scott Mercer - 3/3/2017 - Old Official Forums
• Season 3 Changes: No more rank resets, SR rollback (retired) - Scott Mercer - 10/25/2016 - Old Official Forums
• Season 2 Changes: Group SR Restrictions - Jeff Kaplan - 8/22/2016 - Old Official Forums
• Season 2 Changes: Escort/Assault/Hybrid Time Bank Changes - Lylirra - 8/17/2016 - Old Official Forums
• Competitive Play Season 2 Changes - Jeff Kaplan - 8/15/2016 - Developer Update Video
• Jeff Kaplan announces and explains the removal of Sudden Death in Competitive - 6/23/2016 - Old Official Forums
• Introducing Competitive Play (Season 1) - Jeff Kaplan - 6/17/2016 - Developer Update Video
• BETA: Jeff Kaplan introduces Beta Competitive Play - Jeff Kaplan - 4/5/2016 - Developer Update Video
• BETA: Popular Community Topics #2 (Preliminary Competitive Philosophy) - Jeff Kaplan - 2/29/2016 - Developer Update Video

SKILL RATING AND HIDDEN MMR

• Scott Mercer explains why there won’t be any MMR reset and gives tips to improving your own skill rating - Scott Mercer - 7/30/2020 - Reddit
• Bill Warnecke explains the game gains confidence more in your actual skill when you play from a new account - Bill Warnecke - 7/30/2020 - Reddit
• Principal Designer Josh Noh explains there will not be a direct MMR reset when the Role Queue changes are made on the Competitive game mode - Josh Noh - 7/18/2019
• Geoff Goodman says that a Rank Reset is extremely unlikely to happen - Geoff Goodman - 11/5/2018 - Twitch
• Jeff Kaplan confirms that there is a separate MMR to others modes from Competitive, but looking to minimize imbalanced matches in other modes - Jeff Kaplan - 1/4/2018 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan reveals his Competitive Skill Rating and wishes players did not get so frustrated in some matches of Competitive - Jeff Kaplan - 3/13/2017 - Reddit
• Jeff Kaplan explains that SR correlates to MMR but it is MMR that dictates the matchmaking in Competitive - Jeff Kaplan - 8/23/2017 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan explains that SR decay does not affect the matckmaking of a player - Jeff Kaplan - 8/23/2017 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan like the idea of SR adjustments in Competitive showing detailed feedback - Jeff Kaplan - 3/13/2017 - Reddit
• Number of games for the (now retired) SR bonus gains after Placement Matches - Scott Mercer - 3/3/2017 - Old Official Forums
• Why your placement matches take into account of past seasons of Competitive - Scott Mercer - 3/3/2017 - Old Official Forums
• How the win-streak multiplier and matchmaker works to minimize MMR mis-alignment (smurfs) - Scott Mercer - 10/20/2017 - Old Official Forums
• Detailed explanation about how the Competitive Matchmaking and SR adjustments work - Scott Mercer - 10/19/2017 - Old Official Forums
• Why some matches may result in less SR gained from a win - Lylirra - 7/15/2016 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan explains on how MMR adjustments calculate mis-matches and why they used to account for a leaver before it was removed - Jeff Kaplan - 7/6/2016 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan explains why Competitive’s skill rating is not overly inflationary - Jeff Kaplan - 7/5/2016 - Old Official Forums

COMPETITIVE RULESET

• Scott Mercer explains why Hybrid and Assault maps have the “minimum draw” rule during extra rounds where one team ended with no time left and the other with more than minute - Scott Mercer - 5/24/2021 - Reddit
• Geoff Goodman explains that any new play modes for the Competitive Ruleset are not likely to happen (This is now outdated since the announcement of the Push gamemode as part of the Overwatch 2 launch)- Geoff Goodman - November 5th, 2018 - Twitch
• Why Time Bank was introduced in Season 2 - Jeff Kaplan - 7/15/2016 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan explains why hero limits were added to Competitive - Jeff Kaplan - 7/12/2016 - Old Official Forums

HERO POOLS

• Hero pools have been removed from Competitive Play entirely - Molly Fender - 6/8/2020 - Official Forums
• Scott Mercer explains that Hero Pools only affect Masters and Grandmasters in matches where the average SR is 3500 or higher. - Scott Mercer - 5/1/2020 - Official Forums
• Changes to Hero Pools, Masters & Grandmasters Only, sourced only from Overwatch League - Scott Mercer - 5/1/2020 - Official Forums
• Mixing Up The Meta: Scott Mercer on Hero Pools - Scott Mercer - 3/5/2020 - News Post
• Hero pools may change to where they only affect upper ranks of Competitive Play. - Jeff Kaplan - 1/30/2020 - Official Forums
• Hero pools will not vary at each skill tier but might in the future. - Jeff Kaplan - 1/30/2020 - Official Forums
• Jeff notes the approach to the heroes decided will be refined over time. - Jeff Kaplan - 1/30/2020 - Official Forums
• Hero pools will never be limited down to 1 selectable hero per role - Jeff Kaplan - 1/30/2020 - Official Forums
• Hero pools will be decided by the development team and there will be some guideline to deciding what heroes are rotated out of the metagame each week. - Jeff Kaplan - 1/30/2020 - Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan explains they are still introducing hero pools even if they are going to be more aggressively tackling hero balance and the perceived metagame for Overwatch as an effort to introduce player creativity. - Jeff Kaplan - 1/30/2020 - Official Forums
• A season-long (2-month) hero rotation is unlikely for hero pools. - Jeff Kaplan - 1/30/2020 - Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan explains the reasoning for introducing Hero Pools and confirms it may not return for season 22 if it does not work out well for season 21 of Competitive Play. - Jeff Kaplan - 1/30/2020 - Official Forums
• Hero pools starting out may have a variable range of heroes restricted from Competitive Play in the first five weeks. - Jeff Kaplan - 1/30/2020 - Official Forums
• Hero pools may rotate faster than a week if needed. - Jeff Kaplan - 1/30/2020 - Official Forums

HOW LEAVERS AFFECT COMPETITIVE MATCHES

• Scott Mercer explains why backfilling or pausing are not a good ideas for Competitive modes - Scott Mercer - 5/24/2021 - Reddit
• Jeff Kaplan explains that Competitive matches are cancelled early when a player AFKs or disconnects early - Jeff Kaplan - 1/23/2020 - Reddit
• Leaving a Competitive Match in the post-game sequence does not allow a player to be queued for a match until the previous match post-game is completely resolved - Jeff Kaplan - 3/29/2018 - Official Forums
• There is no penalty for leaving a Competitive match in the post-game sequence - Jeff Kaplan - 3/29/2018 - Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan says they are investigating on options to handle mass outages to avoid issuing Competitive Leaver Penalties (note, since this post the development team will now disable Competitive Play during known server end issues) - Jeff Kaplan - 10/3/2017 - Old Official Forums
• Introduciton of Permanent Competitive Bans to Overwatch - Josh Engen - 9/19/2017 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan explains why they can’t tell the difference if a player left by accident or intent in a Competitive Match - Jeff Kaplan - 8/3/2017 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan share the philosophy of removing players who leave Competitive games completely rather than labeling them or placing them into a separate queue - Jeff Kaplan - 6/8/2017 - Old Official Forums
• Scott Mercer on handling leavers, boosters, and tankers - Scott Mercer - 3/3/2017 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan evaluates the idea of a ready check system before a group queue for Competitive - Jeff Kaplan - 1/18/2017 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan explains why increasing SR penalties will never be used as a leaver deterrent in Competitive - Jeff Kaplan - 12/6/2016 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan explains why there are no handicaps/catch-up mechanics when there is a leaver - Jeff Kaplan - 9/15/2016 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan explains why matches do not cancel after a minute and explain the balancing of the leaver penalty between disconnecting players and serial leavers - Jeff Kaplan - 9/15/2016 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan assures that if the majority of your games are played to completion you should not get banned from Competitive - Jeff Kaplan - 9/14/2016 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan explains why disconnections are penalized for leaving Competitive Play - Jeff Kaplan - 9/14/2016 - Old Official Forums
• Removing handicaps for SR adjustments when there is a leaver - Lylirra - 7/7/2016 - Old Official Forums
• Competitive Leaver Rules and how they affect the remaining players - Scott Mercer - 6/29/2016 - Old Official Forums

HERO AND MAP RELEASES IN COMPETITIVE

• Josh Nash confirms that starting with Sigma, new heroes will have no layover time before they are allowed to be played in Competitive Play) - Josh Nash - 4/14/2020 - Official Forums
• Why Brigitte was withheld from Season 9 of Competitive Play (rule no longer applies to new hero releases) - Jeff Kaplan - 3/20/2018 - Official Forums

COMPETITIVE ARCADE MODES

• Jeff Kaplan shares a detailed graph on how Competitive Open Queue 2020 is played compared to Competitive with Role Queue) - Jeff Kaplan - 4/16/2018 - Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan assures that more mini-Competitive Seasons for arcade game modes are coming) - Jeff Kaplan - 3/2/2018 - Official Forums

OTHER COMPETITIVE RESPONSES

• Jodie explains what she doesn’t like about hero pick and ban systems - Jodie - 1/16/2021 - Official Forums
• Josh Nash explains how cross-play affects Top 500 Leaderboards - Josh Nash - 7/6/2021 - Official Forums
• Scott Mercer explains why they decided to not restrict Competitive to 6-person group stacks - Scott Mercer - 7/30/2020 - Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan shares select hero offensive win rates from 1/5/2018 to 3/5/2018 - Jeff Kaplan - 3/5/2018 - Reddit
• Jeff Kaplan explains why you should not read into your stats too much - Jeff Kaplan - 9/19/2016 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan details which regions get top 500 - Jeff Kaplan - 7/21/2016 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan hints at the possibility to spectate Competitive matches - Jeff Kaplan - 7/5/2016 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan explains that Competitive is not a progression based system - Jeff Kaplan - 7/5/2016 - Old Official Forums

PLAYER DISTRIBUTION

• Jeff Kaplan reveals player distribution in Competitive Play during season 8 - Jeff Kaplan - 2/20/2018 - Official Forums

ONE-TRICKING

• Jeff Kaplan responds to pro player Effect about his frustrations with Competitive and One-Tricking - Jeff Kaplan - 1/29/2018 - Reddit

COMPETITIVE POINTS, GOLDEN WEAPONS, AND REWARDS

• Scott Mercer shares they have no plans to make golden weapons available outside of Competitive Play - Scott Mercer - 5/24/2021 - Reddit
• Jeff Kaplan states that Competitive may not get many more rewards to ensure it remains as an attractive mode to competitive players - Jeff Kaplan - 3/13/2017 - Reddit
• Jeff Kaplan states that Competitive may not get many more rewards to ensure it remains as an attractive mode to competitive players - Jeff Kaplan - 12/8/2016 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan hints at the possibility for animated sprays outside of Competitive Top 500 rewards - Jeff Kaplan - 11/21/2016 - Old Official Forums

 

Matchmaking | Servers | Role Queue

MATCHMAKING

• Why the Global Play Matchmaking changes affects those who want to play out-of-region servers - Josh Nash - 6/22/2021 - Official Forums
• Bill Warnecke explains why it is unlikely players would be able to specify their preference in queue times and match quality - Bill Warnecke - 5/24/2021 - Reddit
• Jeff Kaplan explains no player behaviors including voice chat is used for matchmaking - Jeff Kaplan - 9/21/2020 - Reddit
• Bill Warnecke explains why there is no dedicated datacenter location option for matchmaking modes - 7/30/2020 - Reddit
• Jeff Kaplan explains why there is no dedicated solo queue for Overwatch - Jeff Kaplan - 7/30/2020 - Reddit
• Bill Warnecke explains that timed played is not a contributing factor to matchmaking - Bill Warnecke - 7/30/2020 - Reddit
• Jeff Kaplan addresses they want to improve backfilling so that you do not go into a match about to end in defeat - Jeff Kaplan - 3/16/2020 - Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan confirms that backfilling will not go away in casual modes - Jeff Kaplan - 3/16/2020 - Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan notes that they don’t want to put more filters, such as defining each tank role, that could increase queue times - Jeff Kaplan - 3/16/2020 - Official Forums
• Why matches can feel rigged or unfair at times when they are really not - Scott Mercer - 3/3/2017 - Old Official Forums
• Matchmaking is designed to be more accurate the more you play - Scott Mercer - 10/25/2017 - Old Official Forums
• Why sometimes the matchmaker pairs groups against solo players - Scott Mercer - 10/20/2017 - Old Official Forums
• Detailed explanation about how the Competitive Matchmaking and SR adjustments work - Scott Mercer - 10/19/2017 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan explains why high rated Competitive players can appear in your quick play games - Jeff Kaplan - 5/26/2017 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan explains why queue times can be long for some players - Jeff Kaplan - 5/22/2017 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan explains why a player on an alternate account has extremely slow queue times at the start of the account - Jeff Kaplan - 1/30/2017 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan explains that high ranked players may not be able to find a match at low-peak times - Jeff Kaplan - 9/29/2016 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan explains the pros and cons of how restricted the group SR spread can be - Jeff Kaplan - 7/15/2016 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan gives a detailed explanation to how Matchmaking works and why the old Avoid this Player feature was removed - Jeff Kaplan - 6/20/2016 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan explains why Backfilling works the way it does and confirming there will be no backfilling in Competitive Play - Jeff Kaplan - 6/17/2016 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan again dismisses the theory the game forces a 50% win rate - 6/13/2016 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan explains that experience level is not a factor in the game’s matchmaking - 6/13/2016 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan dismisses the theory the game forces a 50% win rate - 5/24/2016 - Old Official Forums

SERVERS

• Bill Warnecke confirms the Bahrain servers is available for the PS4 console platform - Bill Warnecke - 4/14/2020 - Reddit
• Bill Warnecke confirms the introduction of the Bahrain (Middle East) datacenter and why some locations like Germany appear temporarily - Bill Warnecke - 4/14/2020 - Reddit
• Matt Whited confirms the introduction of the Bahrain (Middle East) datacenter - Matt Whited - 4/14/2020 - Official Forums

ROLE QUEUE

• Priority Passes earned from losing a match are reduced from two down to one and passes refunded for waiting too long - Josh Nash - 1/15/2021 - Official Forums
• Priority Passes are seperated from Competitive and Quick Play modes - Josh Nash - 12/2/2020 - Official Forums
• Why Priority Passes cannot be used in groups of 5 or more - Josh Nash - 11/20/2020 - Official Forums
• Introducting Priority Passes - Josh Nash - 11/19/2020 - Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan confirms that they are looking to address the issues of long role queue wait times after backfilling - Jeff Kaplan - 3/16/2020 - Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan teases that the 1-3-2 role lock might be tested on the Experimentation playcard sometime when it comes out - Jeff Kaplan - 1/30/2020 - Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan shares an extended experiment of the development team running playtests using a 1 tank, 3 damage, 2 support role lock and shares the benefits and disadvantages that system had. - Jeff Kaplan - 1/14/2020 - Official Forums
• Scott Mercer gives updates to the progress of the Role Queue Beta - Scott Mercer - 8/27/2019
• Scott Mercer clarifies that MMR from Role Queue Beta applies to next season’s Placements/Matchmaking - 8/27/2019
• Role Queue in Overwatch, Role Queue Beta Season, Season 17 Ending Early - News Blog - 7/18/2019
• Role Queue, Role Queue Beta Season, Season 17 Ending Early - Jeff Kaplan - 7/18/2016 - Developer Update Video

 

Quick Play | Arcade Game Modes | Training Modes

• Jeff Kaplan assures heroes selected in Mystery Heroes is purely random - Jeff Kaplan - 7/30/2020 - Reddit
• Jeff Kaplan confirms that additional Arcade mode slots are going to be added in October 2017 - Jeff Kaplan - 8/4/2019 - Reddit
• Jeff Kaplan states to look into the possibility of having Quick Play Classic be able to earn achievements - Jeff Kaplan - 8/4/2019 - Official Forums
• Why Total Mayhem sparingly appears in the weekly arcade rotation - Jeff Kaplan - 5/1/2019 - Official Forums
• Why Mystery Heroes is chaotic in nature - Jeff Kaplan - 3/2/2018 - Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan explains the challenges of setting certain rules and limits in some arcade modes like No Limits - Jeff Kaplan - 10/18/2017 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan explains why no hero limits were removed from Competitive and Quick Play ruleset - Jeff Kaplan - 10/18/2017 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan states that it is not likely to have more than 5 modes in the Arcade mode rotation (Outdated as modes have been expanded to 7) - Jeff Kaplan - 10/18/2017 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan shares his feelings about how Mystery Heroes works - Jeff Kaplan - 6/8/2017 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan explains why Health Packs are not available in the arena maps by default rule set - Jeff Kaplan - 4/21/2017 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan explains why the “Most Played” and activity meters on the arcade modes was removed - Jeff Kaplan - 2/3/2017 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan explains why Lucio and Mercy are not selectable in Mystery Duel - Jeff Kaplan - 2/1/2017 - Old Official Forums
• Capture the Flag - Jeff Kaplan - 1/24/2017 - Developer Update Video
• Jeff Kaplan hints at the possibility of Achievements for select arcade modes - Jeff Kaplan - 1/13/2017 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan explains why wins are required to earn weekly arcade rewards - Jeff Kaplan - 12/2/2016 - Old Official Forums

TRAINING MODES

• Jeff Kaplan wishes they could add AI for Pharah but it would be one of the most challenging to do it for - Jeff Kaplan - 6/15/2017 - Old Official Forums

 

Custom Games | Workshop

• Jodie confirms that Horizon Lunar Colony and Paris will remain available in custom games - Jodie - 3/15/2022 - Official Forums
• AndyB comments on the new custom game browser - AndyB - 9/21/2021 - Official Forums
• Bill Warnecke confirms adding more than one Solider: 76 bot will add the number increment to the 76 instead of append to the name - Bill Warnecke - 4/14/2020 - Reddit
• Workshop Update Grants Unprecedented Power For Creators - Dan Reed & Zach Metcalf - 4/9/2020 - News Post
• Jeff Kaplan evaluates the possibility of a password feature for custom games - Jeff Kaplan - 2/16/2017 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan notes that the game engine can “time scale” - 3/25/2017 - Old Official Forums

Seasonal Events | Special Promotions

DEVELOPER RESPONSES

• Andy again confirms the Remixed skins are not the only Legendary skins coming out this year - AndyB - 3/30/2022 - Official Forums
• Andy explains why the Anniversary Remix skins are significant content additions as we wait for Overwatch 2 - AndyB - 3/30/2022 - Official Forums
• Andy confirms Remixed skins will appear in Anniversary Loot Boxes - AndyB - 3/30/2022 - Official Forums
• Andy confirms six Remixed skins are appearing in each Remix event - AndyB - 3/30/2022 - Official Forums
• Andy clarifies his comment from earlier this year about there being more Legendary skins does only include the Anniversary Remix skins - AndyB - 3/30/2022 - Official Forums
• There are no current plans for the Pink Mercy skin to return for distribution - AndyB - 3/30/2022 - Official Forums
• Announcement about the Anniversary Remix Events in 2022 - AndyB - 3/30/2022 - Official Forums
• AndyB explains why there was only two Legendary skins for the 2022 Year of the Tiger Lunar New Year event - AndyB - 1/25/2022 - Official Forums
• AndyB notes that the Cassidy’s New Blood Challenge mini-event was not intended to showcase Cassidy’s new name but was actually delayed to change the content for it - AndyB - 11/1/2021 - Official Forums
• Changes to how weekly rewards are earned from seasonal events and mini-events - Josh Nash - 4/6/2021 - Official Forums
• Pachimarchi Mini-Event did not provide Twitch Drops - Josh Nash - 8/5/2020 - Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan explains the reasoning for the specific spelling in Brigitte’s Feskarn skin - Jeff Kaplan - 8/5/2020 - Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan explains the process in choosing heroes and skins for limited-time promotions - Jeff Kaplan - 7/30/2020 - Reddit
• Jeff Kaplan details plans for the Winter Wonderland 2018 seasonal event - Jeff Kaplan - 11/2/2018 - Twitch
• Why Capture the Flag is not a primary map type/game mode - Jeff Kaplan - 8/15/2018 - Official Forums
• Why LucioBall is 3v3 - Jeff Kaplan - 8/15/2018 - Official Forums
• Tom Powers shares details on the D.Va Nano-Cola Twitch Streaming Promotion - Tom Powers - 5/8/2018 - Official Forums
• Tom Powers shares details on the Pink Mercy Twitch Streaming Promotion - Tom Powers - 5/8/2018 - Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan explains that the appearance of event items are on a different drop rate from that regular items - Jeff Kaplan - 10/18/2017 - Old Official Forums
• Why the R.I.P. Victory Poses are only available to purchase by credits during the Halloween Event - Josh Engen - 10/10/2017 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan explains why the not all heroes are available to select in the Junkenstein’s Endless mode - Jeff Kaplan - 10/10/2017 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan elaborates on the internal controversy of Zayra’s Totally 80’s skin - Jeff Kaplan - 10/10/2017 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan explains why seasonal Brawls are not always available in Custom Game - 4/20/2017 - Old Official Forums
• Michael Chu details that more lore-based interactions are unlocked the more you play the Uprising Brawl - Michael Chu - 4/12/2017 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan states there is no plans for an Easter-themed event - Jeff Kaplan - 3/29/2017 - Old Official Forums
• Seasonal events are likely to run annually - Jeff Kaplan - 3/13/2017 - Reddit
• Jeff Kaplan confirms that drop rates for each seasonal event remain the same - Jeff Kaplan - 2/14/2017 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan states there is no plans for a Valentines or Easter-themed event - Jeff Kaplan - 12/21/2016 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan explains the business philosophy of seasonal events - Jeff Kaplan - 8/3/2016 - Old Official Forums

DEVELOPER UPDATE VIDEOS

• Tracer’s Comic Challenge - Jeff Kaplan - 9/20/2019 - Developer Update Video
• Storm Rising | Archives 2019 - Jeff Kaplan - 4/16/2019 - Developer Update Video
• Overwatch Anniversary Event 2018 - Jeff Kaplan - 5/15/2018 - Developer Update Video
• Pink Mercy Charity Event - Jeff Kaplan - 5/8/2018 - Developer Update Video
• Overwatch Archives 2018 - Jeff Kaplan & Tim Ford - 4/2/2018 - Developer Update Video
• Overwatch Lunar New Year 2018 - Jeff Kaplan - 2/6/2018 - Developer Update Video
• Overwatch Winter Wonderland 2017 - Jeff Kaplan - 12/7/2017 - Developer Update Video
• Overwatch Summer Games 2017 - Jeff Kaplan - 8/1/2017 - Developer Update Video
• Overwatch Anniversary Event 2017 - Jeff Kaplan - 5/23/2017 - Developer Update Video
• Overwatch Uprising (Archives 2017) - Jeff Kaplan - 4/11/2017 - Developer Update Video
• Introducing Seasonal Events - Jeff Kaplan - 8/2/2016 - Developer Update Video

 

Social Features | LFG | Endorsements

• Scott Mercer shares that improvements to the Endorsement system is coming soon and that the current system decays endorsement ratings over games played and not by time passed - Scott Mercer - 5/24/2021 - Reddit
• Jeff Kaplan explained how the old “Prefer This Player” tool worked before it was removed - Jeff Kaplan - 4/23/2020 - Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan recommends using the Looking For Group tool if players want to control the range of skill rating their team has - Jeff Kaplan - 4/17/2020 - Official Forums
• Josh Nash confirms replays will not have text or voice chat logs - Josh Nash - 2/26/2020 - Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan shares details about Career Profile privacy and considering a filter for LFG to require public profiles - Jeff Kaplan - 8/31/2018 - Reddit
• Avoid As Teammate feature expanded to three slots - Scott Mercer - 8/31/2018 - Official Forums
• Stats revealed showing reduced toxicity since LFG and Endorsements were introduced - Jeff Kaplan - 7/12/2018 - Official Forums
• Stats revealed showing the positive use of the Looking-for-Group system - Jeff Kaplan - 7/3/2018 - Official Forums
• LFG won’t show filled groups or groups outside of your skill range in the listings - Jeff Kaplan - 6/26/2018 - Official Forums
• You can only endorse up to 3 players per match and any player once for up to 12 hours - Jeff Kaplan - 6/26/2018 - Official Forums
• Updated Player Experience Tools - Changes to Report Categories, Introduction to the “Avoid As Teammate” feature - Scott Mercer - 3/24/2018 - Official Forums
• Introducing Avoid as Teammate - Jeff Kaplan - 3/24/2018 - Developer Update Video

 

General Game Features

ANNOUNCEMENTS

• Poll: What’s your favorite game mode - Jeff Kaplan - 3/21/2018 - Official Forums
• Replacing Ping and RTT with Latency - Philip Orwig - 8/8/2018 - Official Forums
• High-Bandwidth Rollout - Lylirra - 8/12/2016 - Old Official Forums
• Lootboxes generate content when received, not when opened - Lylirra - 7/12/2016 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan details the Overtime changes in Summer 2016 - Jeff Kaplan 7/21/2016 - Old Official Forums

POSSIBLE UPCOMING REQUESTED GAME FEATURES (that are not yet in the game)

Guild/Clan System

• Jeff Kaplan hints that a Guild/Clan system is still on their wish list but no active development plans - Jeff Kaplan - 7/30/2020 - Reddit
• Jeff Kaplan says they would be very excited to work on a Clan/Guild system - Jeff Kaplan - 2/16/2017 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan shows interest in a clan/guild system - 5/27/2016 - Old Official Forums

Map Editor

• Why creating assets and custom maps is a huge undertaking - John LaFleur - 5/24/2021 - Reddit
• John LaFleur expresses the difficities in making a map editor for Overwatch - John LaFleur - 7/30/2020 - Reddit
• Jeff Kaplan explains the difficulty in offering a Map Editor - Jeff Kaplan - 3/20/2017 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan explains that Overwatch is a brand new game engine and that a map editor and other editing features are difficult to be made available to users - Jeff Kaplan - 9/21/2016 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan shares the possibility of user-created content (map editor, etc) - Jeff Kaplan - 6/24/2016 - Old Official Forums

Match History

• Scott Mercer hints that they are looking to provide more features of showing details to past matches played - Scott Mercer - 5/24/2021 - Reddit
• Jeff Kaplan touches up on why there is no match history - Jeff Kaplan - 10/4/2016 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan shows interest in a match history feature - 6/7/2016 - Old Official Forums

Crossplay (players on different platforms playing together)

• Jeff Kaplan hints they still want to explore crossplay for Overwatch - Jeff Kaplan - 7/30/2020 - Reddit
• Jeff Kaplan explains why cross-platform play is not yet explored for Overwatch - 5/25/2016 - Old Official Forums

Cross-persistence/progression (accessing content and play history across all platforms)

• John LaFleur explains the challenges of adding cross-progression to Overwatch - John LaFleur - 5/24/2021 - Reddit
• Cross-progression for Overwatch is something they are still considering - John LaFleur - 5/24/2021 - Reddit
• Jeff Kaplan hints at the possiblity at cross-progression/persistance across platforms - Jeff Kaplan - 7/30/2020 - Reddit
• Jeff Kaplan hints at possiblity of cross-persistent features - Jeff Kaplan - 9/13/2018 - Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan explains why transferring accounts from platform to platform is not possible - Jeff Kaplan - 10/31/2017 - Old Official Forums

Ping System (Positional Tracker)

• Aaron Keller again hints at the possiblity of a ping system for Overwatch - John LaFleur - 5/24/2021 - Reddit
• Jeff Kaplan hints that they still experiment with a “ping” system for Overwatch - Jeff Kaplan - 4/23/2020 - Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan details about a “ping system” they tried to implement in Overwatch but did not work well. - Jeff Kaplan - 2/15/2019 - Official Forums

Scoreboards/Medal System Improvements

• Scott Mercer explains the purpose of the Medal system and how it could be improved - Scott Mercer - 7/30/2020 - Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan hints at possiblities for improving the game status (Tab) screen/scoreboard - Jeff Kaplan - 7/30/2020 - Reddit

Other Requested Features

• Arnold Tsang confirms that a victory pose showing Symmetra’s golden weapon is in the works - Arnold Tsang - 5/24/2021 - Reddit
• Bill Warnecke hints at cool new features coming for the Workshop - Bill Warnecke - 5/24/2021 - Reddit
• Jeff Kaplan reacts at the idea of alternate user interface or weapon effect cosmetics - Jeff Kaplan - 7/30/2020 - Reddit
• Jeff Kaplan responds to a series of “Quality of life” suggestions on Reddit - Jeff Kaplan - 4/24/2020 - Reddit
• Jeff Kaplan follows up saying providing direct patch notes in the game client is more difficult to implement than what it seems - Jeff Kaplan - 2/25/2020 - Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan likes the idea of more custom selections for equipped cosmetics - Jeff Kaplan - 9/24/2018 - Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan says they will look more into doing more Blizzard crossover skins if they community is interested - Jeff Kaplan - 1/10/2018 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan acknowledges feedback about increased motion sickness from the Kill Cams - Jeff Kaplan - 9/28/2017 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan gives hints to improve the stats in the Career Profile- Jeff Kaplan - 8/10/2017 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan hints at the possibility of a tournament mode - Jeff Kaplan - 3/13/2017 - Reddit
• Jeff Kaplan likes the idea of a health regeneration feature for heroes in Custom Games - Jeff Kaplan - 3/13/2017 - Reddit
• Michael Chu details they wish to add Lore and Media (Comics/Animated Shorts) directly in-game - Michael Chu - 6/28/2016 - Old Official Forums
• Scott Mercer explains why Overwatch is not free-to-play - Scott Mercer - 11/7/2015 - Internet

REQUESTED GAME FEATURES THAT ARE NOT LIKELY TO COME

• Bill Warnecke explains why 120 tick-rate servers are not likely to be available for the live game - Bill Warnecke - 5/24/2021 - Reddit
• Jeff Kaplan speculates that getting third-party content into Overwatch is not likely to happen soon - Jeff Kaplan - 7/30/2020 - Reddit
• Jeff Kaplan gives a very detailed post about a Hero Pick and Ban System and why Overwatch is not likely to use one any time soon. - Jeff Kaplan - 1/22/2020 - Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan explains that it would be extremely difficult to change Overwatch’s game structure to support more than 12 players. - Jeff Kaplan - 1/14/2020 - Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan explains how an experimented 4 Damage / 1 Tank / 1 Healer restricted game mode did not play out well in testing. (A 2/2/2 Role Queue is now implemented) - Jeff Kaplan - 2/14/2018 - Official Forums
• Widowmaker Noire skin not returning to earn - Jeff Kaplan - 8/8/2017 - Old Official Forums
• No Bloom Adjustment Settings Planned for Overwatch - Jeff Kaplan - 3/17/2017 - Reddit
• Jeff Kaplan again explains why there is no minimap - Jeff Kaplan - 2/17/2017 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan explains why they rather avoid implementing a Hero Ban system) - Jeff Kaplan - 11/15/2016 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan explains why there is no minimap - Jeff Kaplan - 9/19/2016 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan explains why there is no per hero leveling progression - Jeff Kaplan - 8/3/2016 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan explains why there is no 21:9 friendly FOV options - Jeff Kaplan 7/21/2016 - Old Official Forums
• David Clyde shares the possibility of selecting each hero’s voice language - Jeff Kaplan - 6/23/2016 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan explains why Daily Quests are not a planned feature for Overwatch - 6/17/2016 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan explains why there is no third-person view option for Overwatch - 6/13/2016 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan further explains why groups are not forced into team chat - 6/10/2016 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan explains why groups are not forced into team chat - 5/25/2016 - Old Official Forums

REQUESTED GAME FEATURES THAT HAVE LATER BEEN IMPLEMENTED INTO THE GAME

• Jeff Kaplan hints there is an upcoming update to improve communication wheel features) - Jeff Kaplan - 4/14/2020 - Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan confirms the ability to transfer a custom game lobby will be coming in patch 1.33 - Jeff Kaplan - 1/9/2019 - Reddit
• Jeff Kaplan hints at the possibility of some type of a “gun game” mode - Jeff Kaplan (This is now known as the “Hero Gauntlet” Mode - 5/9/2017 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan hints at the development of subtitle support for Overwatch (Subtitles now implemented) - 4/24/2017 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan hints at the possibility of a replay feature in Overwatch (Now Implemented) - Jeff Kaplan - 12/8/2016 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan reacts to the idea of a replay system (Now Implemented) - Jeff Kaplan - 8/6/2016 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan first talks about the possibility of a Replay System (Now Implemented) - Jeff Kaplan - 7/21/2016 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan explains the backbone structure that could eventually be built into a Replay system (Now Implemented) - Jeff Kaplan - 6/17/2016 - Old Official Forums

OTHER GAME FEATURE RESPONSES

• Scott Mercer explains the difficulty in changing Achievements for Overwatch - Scott Mercer - 7/30/2020 - Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan reminds why the Rate this Match feature was removed - Jeff Kaplan - 2/25/2020 - Official Forums
• As of January 2020, there are no plans for new portrait borders beyond the Diamond 5-star - Jeff Kaplan - 1/30/2020 - Official Forums
• Bill Warnecke confirms there is no limit to how many Loot Boxes you can collect - Bill Warnecke - 11/7/2019 - Reddit
• Bill Warnecke shares that updating can happen any day, but prefer Tuesdays to react to any bugs - Bill Warnecke - 11/4/2019 - Reddit
• Bill Warnecke explains why the game has “Remaster” patches - Bill Warnecke - 4/16/2019 - Reddit
• Jeff Kaplan explains the original expectations they had with “situational heroes” and how that has since evolved with the community. - Jeff Kaplan - 2/14/2019 - Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan further explains why there is no fall damage in Overwatch - Jeff Kaplan - 2/2/2019 - Official Forums
• Lead Engineer Bill Warnecke explains why a Linux version of Overwatch is unlikely - Bill Warnecke - 10/31/2018 - Official Forums
• Poland Flag Player Icon Removed due to legal reasons - Jeff Kaplan - 8/15/2018 - Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan reminds that not every country has a Player Icon due to legal reasons - Jeff Kaplan - 8/15/2018 - Official Forums
• Why Anniversary Legendary Loot Box duplicate issue occurs - Jeff Kaplan - 6/6/2018 - Official Forums
• Bill Warnecke notes that Overwatch is not a peer-to-peer online game - Bill Warnecke - 3/11/2018 - Reddit
• Jeff Kaplan states the drop rate for Loot Box items has not been reduced - Jeff Kaplan - 8/28/2017 - Old Official Forums
• Details on the Defensive Respawn Timing Rules - Scott Mercer - 7/27/2017 - Old Official Forums
• Details on how stat cards are generated - Scott Mercer - 7/20/2017 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan shares that it is difficult to change achievements based on console restrictions - Jeff Kaplan - 7/13/2017 - Reddit
• Jeff Kaplan explains why the Rate this Match feature in the post-game was removed - Jeff Kaplan - 6/1/2017 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan explains the logic of classifying Epic and Legendary skins - Jeff Kaplan - 12/15/2016 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan explains why the main game mode is not 8v8 or 4v4 - Jeff Kaplan - 12/13/2016 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan explains why you are vulnerable and trapped while using emotes - Jeff Kaplan - 12/8/2016 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan explains why the scaling levels from 1 to 20 went away for prestige players - Jeff Kaplan - 11/15/2016 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan explains how the old “Prefer this Player” feature worked before it was removed - Jeff Kaplan - 11/3/2016 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan explains why there is no medal for the Deaths statistic on the scoreboard - Jeff Kaplan - 10/20/2016 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan explains the purpose of match (orange) text chat - Jeff Kaplan - 9/27/2016 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan explains the function of the “Block” tool - Jeff Kaplan - 8/2/2016 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan dismisses the possibility of heroes being retired - Jeff Kaplan - 8/25/2016 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan states that new heroes and maps added are free to Overwatch - Jeff Kaplan - 7/10/2016 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan explains why certain abilities do count to triggering overtime - Jeff Kaplan - 7/8/2016 - Old Official Forums
• Bots are not backfilled into Quick Play matches - Lylirra - 6/23/2016 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan explains why there is no fall damage in Overwatch - Jeff Kaplan - 6/20/2016 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan explains that Loot Boxes always generate their contents when received, not opened - Jeff Kaplan - 6/17/2016 - Old Official Forums
• Michael Chu explains why in an Interview why there is no direct scoreboard - Michael Chu - 5/26/2016 - Internet Article

DEVELOPER VIDEO UPDATES/PRESS RELEASES

• Advanced Communication Wheel - Jeff Kaplan - 4/23/2020 - Developer Update Video
• Introduction of the Experimentation Card and Hero Pools. Updates on anti-cheat intiatives, updates to Replay System, & minor Career Profile updates - Jeff Kaplan - 1/30/2020 - Developer Update Video
• July 2019 Update (Summer Games 2019 preview, Hero 31 coming soon, cheat system feature) - Jeff Kaplan - 7/11/2019 - Developer Update Video
• June 2019 Update (Baptiste short story, Baptiste Reunion Challenge, Replay System, Competitive FFA Season 2, Assault Map Changes) - Jeff Kaplan - 6/17/2019 - Developer Update Video
• The Workshop - Jeff Kaplan - 4/24/2019 - Developer Update Video
• Overwatch - What’s Next Panel 2018 - REQUIRES BLIZZCON VIRTUAL TICKET - Michael Chu, Jason Hill, Arnold Tsang, Geoff Goodman - 11/2/2018 - BlizzCon
• Blizzcon 2018 Opening Ceremonies - Blizzard Entertainment - 11/2/2018 - Twitch
• October 2018 Update (Overwatch World Cup Viewer & Various Buffs) - Jeff Kaplan - 10/23/2018 - Developer Update Video
• September 2018 Update (Torb Rework, Various Hero Balancing, Development Focus now on improving the quality of the game, Postponed Social Feature) - Jeff Kaplan - 8/21/2018 - Developer Update Video
• Overwatch Korea Fan Festival 2018 - Blizzard Entertainment - 8/22/2017 - Twitch
• Popular Community Topics #4 (Reporting/Toxicity, Various Hero Balancing) - Jeff Kaplan - 1/25/2018 - Developer Update Video
• Happy New Year - Jeff Kaplan - 1/2/2018 - Developer Update Video
• Overwatch - What’s Next Panel 2017 - REQUIRES BLIZZCON VIRTUAL TICKET - Aaron Keller, Michael Chu, David Kang, Geoff Goodman - 11/6/2017 - BlizzCon
• Blizzcon 2017 Opening Ceremonies - Blizzard Entertainment - 11/6/2017 - BlizzCon
• Evolving Overwatch Esports - Jeff Kaplan - 10/26/2017 - Developer Update Video
• New Highlights Feature - Jeff Kaplan - 6/22/2017 - Developer Update Video
• Introducing Endorsements and Looking-For-Group - Jeff Kaplan - 6/5/2018 - Developer Update Video
• Introducing the Game Browser - Jeff Kaplan - 2/7/2017 - Developer Update Video
• Year in Review - Jeff Kaplan - 12/21/2016 - Developer Update Video
• Blizzcon 2016 Update (Patch 1.05, Sombra, Arcade, Oasis) - Jeff Kaplan - 11/08/2016 - Developer Update Video
• Popular Community Topics #3 (Various Hero Balance Changes, Hints at new modes, heroes, and maps) - Jeff Kaplan - 10/5/2016 - Developer Update Video
• High Bandwidth Update -Tim Ford & Philip Orwig - 9/9/2016 - Developer Update Video
• BETA: Let’s Talk Netcode -Tim Ford & Philip Orwig - 4/16/2016 - Developer Update Video

 

Public Test Region

• The Experimentation Play card is not a substitute for the Public Test Region and that major patch changes will still be tested on the PTR - Jeff Kaplan - 1/30/2020 - Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan explains further details about why the PTR is not available on console. - Jeff Kaplan - 11/1/2018 - Official Forums
• Bill Warnecke explains that they occasionally do a snapshot copy of the live servers to the PTR -Bill Warnecke - 9/22/2018 - Reddit
• Bill Warnecke explains why the PTR often runs up to 3 weeks for testing -Bill Warnecke - 9/22/2018 - Reddit
• Jeff Kaplan says that balances changes to be tested can’t be applied into a live patch of the game in the arcade - Jeff Kaplan - 10/11/2017 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan explains why experience/XP levels don’t transfer over from the PTR - Jeff Kaplan - 7/7/2017 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan explains why there are no PTR incentives - Jeff Kaplan - 7/1/2017 - Old Official Forums
• PTR Philosophy - Jeff Kaplan - 1/17/2017 - Developer Update Video
• Jeff Kaplan details why the PTR can be far from a smooth experience - Jeff Kaplan - 1/9/2017 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan explains why the PTR has low play percentage - Jeff Kaplan - 1/9/2017 - Old Official Forums

 

Console Specific Game Features

• John LaFleur explains why PS5 is not optimized to 120 FPS like the Xbox Series X/S is - Bill Warnecke - 5/24/2021 - Reddit
• Bill Warnecke explains why the “Are You With Us?” animated short plays every time the game loads on console - Bill Warnecke - 5/24/2021 - Reddit
• Jeff Kaplan explains that the Nintendo Switch has the most deviation in terms of average play time between game modes because it is the newest platform- Jeff Kaplan - 4/16/2019 - Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan acknowledges the difficulty of Echo’s Flight and Glide abilities on controller - Jeff Kaplan - 4/14/2019 - Reddit
• Bill Warnecke shares that pre-loading patches on consoles are not possible because the patch is delivered through the console’s systems- Bill Warnecke - 4/16/2019 - Reddit
• Tom Powers details the Console Aim-Assist changes in patch 1.28 - Tom Powers - 9/11/2018 - Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan explains why the Overwatch Game Client does not link directly to the console Twitch App - Jeff Kaplan - 1/19/2018 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan reminds the community that they discourage the use of Mouse and Keyboard adapters for console, but currently cannot do anything about it - Jeff Kaplan - 1/19/2018 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan explains the challenges in stopping Mouse and Keyboard usage - Jeff Kaplan on consoles - 2/2/2017 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan states their philosophy about Mouse and Keyboard usage on consoles - Jeff Kaplan - 2/2/2017 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan looks at the possibility for console split screen play - Jeff Kaplan - 11/18/2016 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan notes that PS4’s Trophy system policy prevents them from adding seasonal achievements - Jeff Kaplan - 10/13/2016 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan explains why it would be hard to introduce a split screen feature for consoles - 5/25/2016 - Old Official Forums

 

Reporting | Account Actions | Community Behavior

REPORTING

• Josh Nash recommends using just the in-game report form for reporting players, and only use Replay Share Codes for reporting inappropriate custom game content - Josh Nash - 2/26/2020 - Official Forums
• Tom Powers replies to a user about how to deal with unacceptable harassment in the game - Tom Powers - 8/2/2018 - Official Forums
• Tom Powers replies to a user about the negative behavior he encountered - Tom Powers - 7/2/2018 - Official Forums
• Player Behavior in Overwatch - Development of reporting and account action features - Scott Mercer - 5/2/2018 - Official Forums
• Tom Powers replies to a user about the racist behavior he encountered - Tom Powers - 3/19/2018 - Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan explains plans to handle toxicity and report system improvements to Overwatch - Jeff Kaplan - 8/29/2017 - Old Official Forums
• Reporting Racism - Lylirra - 8/10/2016 - Old Official Forums
• Reporting Cheating - Lylirra - 8/10/2016 - Old Official Forums

ACCOUNT ACTIONS

• AndyB assures changes to reduce disruptive behavior will be implimented soon - AndyB - 3/1/2022 - Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan explains players will receive a warning if they are getting reported frequently - Jeff Kaplan - 5/3/2018 - Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan confirms that any video evidence posted on social media can be used to action your Blizzard account - Jeff Kaplan - 2/8/2018 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan explains why breaches of Code-of-Conduct are treated equally regardless of the mode played and how they are investigated - Jeff Kaplan - 10/31/2017 - Old Official Forums
• Play Nice, Play Fair (Discussion of reporting and actions against bad behavior in Overwatch) - Jeff Kaplan - 9/13/2017 - Developer Update Video
• Announcement of increased penalties for Code-of-Conduct violations - Lylirra - 7/25/2017 - Old Official Forums
• Announcement of account access changes for Korean PC Bangs - Lylirra - 2/14/2017 - Old Official Forums

FALSE REPORTING

• AndyB reminds a player on the forums that abusing the reporting system will result in action against the reporter - AndyB - 10/22/2021 - Official Forums
• Players should not report players they suspect of smurfing - Jeff Kaplan - 9/13/2018 - Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan explains how cheating reports are handled and players should not worry about being reported for cheating - Jeff Kaplan - 5/18/2018 - Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan checks a user claiming they are being falsely reported - Jeff Kaplan - 2/9/2018 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan confirms false reporting one-tricking a hero is a bannable offense to the reporter - Jeff Kaplan - 2/8/2018 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan checks a user claiming they are being actioned for one-tricking - Jeff Kaplan - 1/16/2018 - Old Official Forums

THIRD-PARTY APPS, AIMBOTS, HACKS

• AndyB dismisses wild speculation to the exact number of accounts banned in the August 2021 banwave - AndyB - 8/24/2021 - Official Forums
• AndyB explains what was specific to identifying accounts in the August 2021 banwave - AndyB - 8/24/2021 - Official Forums
• Another ban wave announced for those cheating in Overwatch - AndyB - 8/24/2021 - Official Forums
• More Actions against cheating in Overwatch - Josh Nash - 5/24/2021 - Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan calls out a player who actually was cheating that was banned in the April 2020 ban wave - Jeff Kaplan - 4/17/2018 - Official Forums
• Tom Powers confirms both Pursuit and Visor are not permitted in Overwatch - Tom Powers - 9/19/2018 - Official Forums
• Official Announcement regarding unauthorized third-party software with Overwatch - Tom Powers - 9/19/2018 - Official Forums
• Tom Powers reminds players that using bots, hacks, or exploits will result in being permanently banned from the game - Tom Powers - 2/27/2018 - Official Forums
• Actions against cheating in Overwatch - Lylirra - 8/16/2016 - Old Official Forums
• Blizzard’s policy on cheating in Overwatch - Lylirra - 5/13/2016 - Old Official Forums

EXPLOITS

• Jeff Kaplan warns players that abusing in-game bugs to cheat in Overwatch will result in severe account actions - Jeff Kaplan - 1/5/2017 - Old Official Forums

SMURF/ALTERNATE ACCOUNTS/BOOSTING/THROWING

• Scott Mercer explains the differences between abusive alternate accounts and those played for good reasons - Scott Mercer - 5/24/2021 - Reddit
• Josh Nash announces a manual ban wave took place against those throwing games of Overwatch - Josh Nash - 12/22/2020 - Official Forums
• Josh Nash warns the community on throwing games in Flex Queue to earn priority passes - Josh Nash - 12/18/2020 - Official Forums
• Scott Mercer details on the development team’s stance and approach to handling disruptive behavior with suspected “smurf” accounts - Scott Mercer - 7/30/2020 - Reddit
• The development team is looking to find ways to control alternate accounts on console platforms but any solutions are still a long way out. - Jeff Kaplan - 1/30/2020 - Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan again addresses that is not wrong to have an alternate account but to attempt to tank or boost your skill rating is - Jeff Kaplan - 9/13/2018 - Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan reminds the community the difference between owning an alternate account, throwing and boosting - Jeff Kaplan - 6/14/2017 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan gives a detailed explanation of the difference between owning an alternate account, throwing and boosting - 4/21/2017 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan confirms intentionally de-ranking (even in a full group) is unacceptable and subject to action - Jeff Kaplan - 2/3/2017 - Old Official Forums

ABUSIVE CHAT

• Scott Mercer explains the understanding that players playing certain heroes or roles, like tanks, receive more abusive comments and what they are working to do about it - Scott Mercer - 5/24/2021 - Reddit
• Molly Fender announces a manual ban wave was issued for offenders of abusive chat - Molly Fender - 10/12/2020 - Official Forums
• Molly Fender announces details on improved Profanity Filters for Overwatch - Molly Fender - 9/23/2020 - Official Forums
• Scott Mercer details on steps being taken to reduce harassment and abusive in the game - Scott Mercer - 7/30/2020 - Reddit
• Jeff Kaplan explains the importance to report players for Abusive Chat and to use the profanity filter - 7/30/2020 - Reddit
• Tom Powers identifies a user being actioned for Abusive Chat explains the Game Content rating for Overwatch - Tom Powers - 8/8/2018 - Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan explains Abusive Chat Account Actions are still confirmed by a Blizzard representative and not issued automatically - Jeff Kaplan - 5/3/2018 - Official Forums
• Tom Powers identifies a user being actioned for Abusive Chat and not their hero pick - Tom Powers - 4/20/2018 - Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan confirms a user is excessively toxic and not just being reported for playing a specific hero - Jeff Kaplan - 12/18/2017 - Old Official Forums
• Spamming In-Game voice lines to be disruptive is considered Abusive Chat - Scott Mercer - 10/24/2017 - Old Official Forums
• Scott Mercer confirms if a player uses in-game communication including characters voice lines to determine if a player is being Abusive - Scott Mercer - 10/24/2017 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan reminds users that actions from Abusive Chat will result in silences, suspensions or bans - Jeff Kaplan - 10/3/2017 - Old Official Forums

GAMEPLAY SABOTAGE

• Jeff Kaplan gives an example of how a player can be playing badly - Jeff Kaplan - 3/21/2018 - Official Forums
• Former Community Manager Griffin Bennett announces IP banning a person sabotaging Top 500 Competitive matches under the cover of “one-tricking” Symmetra. - Griffin Bennett - February 6th, 2018 - Reddit
• Josh Engen identifies a user who was disrupting Competitive Play and falsely blaming on being punished for “one-tricking” - Josh Engen - 11/12/2017 - Old Official Forums
• Josh Engen explains the important differences between being able to play a preferred hero and playing cooperatively with your teammates - Josh Engen - 11/11/2017 - Old Official Forums
• Jeff Kaplan checks the account for a person claiming they don’t know why they were suspended - Jeff Kaplan - 8/28/2017 - Old Official Forums

AFK/LEAVING
Please note: posts surrounding how leaving affects Competitive matches can be found in the Competitive Play section above.

• Leaving a casual match is allowed during the Assemble Your Heroes screen before the Game Setup Phase - Jeff Kaplan - 5/1/2019 - Official Forums
• AFK timing and rules varies across modes - Scott Mercer - 10/11/2017 - Old Official Forums
• Rules that trigger the 75% experience cut penalty for leaving games - Lylirra - 8/7/2016 - Old Official Forums

GAME BROWSER/LFG/USER CONTENT VIOLATIONS

• Jeff Kaplan warns players abusing the game browser to farm experience points will result in disciplinary actions - Jeff Kaplan - 3/8/2017 - Old Official Forums

POSTING VIOLATIONS ON THE FORUMS

• Why posting videos of suspected cheating on the forums is not okay (part 2) - Lylirra - 8/9/2016 - Old Official Forums
• Why posting videos of suspected cheating on the forums is not okay - Lylirra - 8/9/2016 - Old Official Forums

SUPPORT FOR ACCOUNT ACTIONS/PENALTIES

• Appeal an Account Silence, Suspension, or Ban - Blizzard Support
• Competitive Suspensions or Bans cannot be Appealed - Blizzard Support
• Blizzard Code-of-Conduct - Blizzard Support
• Blizzard Battle.Net End User License Agreement - Blizzard Official Website

OTHER RESOURCES

• Play Nice, Play Fair - REQUIRES BLIZZCON VIRTUAL TICKET - Blizzard Entertainment - 11/3/2017 - BlizzCon