The Overwatch "To-Do" list - A possible preview of the next update

General Discussion
1

Hello everyone, WyomingMyst here. As you know I spend a LOT of time on these forums and I have tracked a bunch of things that the developers have said commenting on possible new updates or features they wish to see in the game. So this topic is a list of known developer comments from the past of features or changes they have planned for Overwatch. NOTHING in this post is a guarantee of promises to be delivered in this next update as some of the things I will list here are as old as the game’s release.

Anticipated Hero Updates

Anticipated Map Updates

Anticipated Game Features

  • In the original “Social Feature Update” Developer Update Video from last June, Jeff Kaplan mentions there are another two social features planned. One in the late summer and the other for the latter part of 2018. No details or hints on these features has been revealed.
  • Jeff Kaplan in the early part of 2018 addressed they are looking to introduce more Colorblind options for Overwatch. Read here
  • Jeff Kaplan in the early part of 2018 addressed they are still investigating ways to minimize the impact of mouse and keyboard usage in console versions of Overwatch. Read here
  • Jeff Kaplan in 2017 addressed the possibility of a full replay system, noting that it was a long way out but the highlights improvements and eSports spectator updates was a step in that direction. Read here
  • Jeff Kaplan in 2017 addressed the possibility of a map editor, noting that it was a VERY long way out from any form on implementation. Read here
  • Jeff Kaplan in 2017 last updated on his thoughts and interests in the Clan/Guild System. Read here

Competitive Mode Updates

There are no publicly known updates to Competitive Mode planned at this time.

Click here for a review of Competitive Play changes
  • In Season 12, players in Grand Masters and Top 500 could now pair up with players within 350 skill rating of each other (up from 250). Read here
  • In Season 11, PC players must have Blizzard SMS Protect enabled on their accounts to qualify for Top 500. Read here
  • In Season 8, Diamon and higher players no longer have any performance-based skill rating adjustments. Matchmaking would only start to pair players within the skill rating range rules that pre-made groups follow. Read here
  • In Season 6, seasons started to play for only two months long (from three). Players at Diamond through Silver could drop to a lower tier if they could not win enough games to return to their original tier’s skill rating range. Skill rating decay was reduced from 50 to 25 per day and players could delay for 36 hours (up from 24 hours) for every game played. Returning players no longer had their displayed skill rating deflated/reduced from their hidden MMR at the start of a season. (banking up to a week’s time). Read here
  • Mid-way in Season 4, the Assault Map scoring rules were changed to introduce tiebreakers based on a percentage of capture in each point. Read here
  • In Season 4, Players will find it more difficult to reach the very bottom or the very top of the skill rating spectrum. Top 500 can only claim bonus rewards if they end in the top 500 (not just place in it at any time throughout the season). The Defense Respawn Delay Timer was introduced. Read here Matchmaking of groups against random players would be more restricted possibly not finding a match. Read more
  • In Season 3, players no longer reset their skill rating/hidden MMR when returning from a previous season. Read here
  • In Season 2, the Competitive Skill Rating System was overhauled from a scale of 1-100 to 1-5000. Skill tiers were introduced. Skill rating decay is introduced. Top 500 now requires active play to stay in Top 500. Competitive Point system overhauled. Sudden Death removed. Matches can now in a draw. Time Bank Round rules introduced. Leaver penalties were significantly increased. Read here
  • Mid-Way in Season 1, Competitive Matches will no longer adjust skill rating adjustments when there is a leaver in the match. Read here
  • For the first season of Overwatch Competitive play, several changes were introduced from the original beta version.

TL;DR (What we know for sure)

  • Torbjorn and Pharah are on the radar for Hero Balance Changes.
  • Rialto is expected to have revisions to balance out attack/defense win rates
  • More social features are expected to be introduced

Please feel free to update me on anything I may have missed. Please keep the discussion civil as well.

Disclaimer: This post is made at my own personal discretion in an effort to provide a constructive discussion about the upcoming developer update and PTR patch. It is composed of information that I have sourced to the best of my ability. It should be noted that past developer comments are not guaranteed to changes or additions to Overwatch.

21 Likes
2

I wanna be an MVP like you. Doing research on these kinds of things are just so cool! :3

Also I hope the colorblind mode comes really soon

1 Like
3

Might want to fix this. :stuck_out_tongue:

4

Fix where? Please quote the full sentence or tell me what I missed.

EDIT: Misspell… derp

1 Like
5

You misspelled Zarya

6

didn’t we already get this? The most recent patch increased the Rialto payload’s attack speed

3 Likes
7

Yes, but I think they have other planned changes, (especially considering what we have seen so far in the Overwatch World Cup Matches). Increasing the payload speed is easy, putting in a door or two… not so much.

8

good work! hire this man!

2 Likes
10

As a follow up to the previous reply I sent to you earlier today, this is not a post that reflects to my role as a forum MVP here on the forums. I created this post because I wanted to give players an all in one place of relevant information about discussing Overwatch. Posts that better reflect my roles as a MVP are my Maximizing PC Performance guide and my Twitch Rewards Guide which are intended to help players enjoy playing Overwatch.

In the event I should ever work for Blizzard, it would not be for posts like this. But I am glad that you like my effort on this thread.

2 Likes
11

Whoops made a mistake. Forgot about Solider 1 HP damage nerf from May 2017. Correcting the list.

12

I do you have a minor update that I wish to follow up on. Someone asked me outside of the forums if there was any specific response about providing match history in Overwatch. Unfortunately I don’t think there’s ever been an official Blizzard response about that.

Given the recent news that popped out last night I definitely would not mind seeing something posted about that at some point of time.

13

this is great, thanks!

1 Like
14

Thanks for the comment.

1 Like
15

Bastion did get a change in 1.27 about his falloff damage being buffed.

16

A bunch of work.
I really honor your work.

Btw you don’t have these kind of “contatcs” of Blizzard?