Blizzard Details Overwatch Competitive Play Mode
Blizzard Entertainment expects to launch its competitive mode at the end of June—though the developer doesn’t have an exact date at this time.
Competitive play is “the big focus for the [Overwatch] team right now,” Jeff Kaplan, the game’s director, told Eurogamer. Blizzard was “pretty pleased” with the competitive beta system, but said there will be changes when it’s released officially.
During the beta, players perceived Overwatch‘s ranking system as simply “progression-based.” Players were not introduced to the “heroic-rank[ing]” system—which is “much more skill-based,” Kaplan said. There will be no more “safety net” in Overwatch‘s competitive ranking system when it’s revealed. “If you lose, [your rank is] going to go down,” and if you win, it’ll go up.
The new competitive play system will have longer seasons, Kaplan added. Players felt, “if they’d gotten to a certain place in a competitive system,” the seasons were too short to really enjoy the level they’d reached before the system was reset.
Seasons will be around three months, and are likely to match “real-world seasons,” Kaplan said.
Blizzard is looking to continue an “open dialogue” with the community, and to make changes based on player feedback.
The developer also expects to nerf McCree and buff D.Va. Players should also expect a system to save and export in-game highlights to be added to the game, though it’s not immediately clear when this feature will become available.