A very unusual developer update announced new features for Overwatch’s communication wheel – with tons of new messages to use in the heat of battle, supported by custom voice lines for all 32 heroes.

Better communication and more. The patch – Season continues. This new update was delivered by fan-favorite voice actor and Overwatch Game Director Jeff Kaplan, in an adorable “talking head” style video that he recorded from home.

Normally, these (update notes) are not recorded from my phone, which is currently attached to a box.
Unlike his other videos, this one doesn’t include any gameplay footage or fancy editing. Instead, Jeff simply explains the changes, which are relatively easy to understand and follow.

The new patch is first coming to the PTR server for testing before being pushed to the official server soon after. This will initially contain new additions to the communication wheel.

Players will be able to choose their voice lines from the game options and customize them to their needs, which makes perfect sense – a tank shot caller will have different needs than a Genji One trick.

The 26 new commands will include things like “On your way,” “Excuse me,” and a “3, 2, 1” countdown – perfect for synchronized use of Ultimates. All 32 of the game’s heroes, including newcomer Echo, will be able to speak these new voice lines.

More improvements coming to Overwatch
In addition to these changes, Blizzard will introduce some improvements to the gameplay of the hero shooter. For example, the Overwatch League and competitive hero pools are now the same. The map pools have been removed, so now all maps can be played competitively. Well, all except Paris and Horizon Lunar Colony, which will be reworked and reintroduced.

Patch notes will also be displayed in-game from now on, so players looking for updates won’t have to Alt+Tab to the Overwatch website to see the details.

As a final note, Jeff explains that this episode was supposed to be the 50th in the series and that Blizzard’s video team initially had big plans to throw a party and film the entire crew having fun together. However, this was made impossible by the global Corona crisis. Regardless, Jeff takes the time to thank the Blizzard team and highlights many of their employees by name. What a great guy.

We should all follow his example and continue to stay home and play some Overwatch. Echo is also available to us again after her Hero ban. Let’s go!

Overwatch

Overwatch is a computer game by Blizzard Entertainment (Diablo 3, World of Warcraft) and a first-person shooter with individual fantasy elements. The game was released in May 2016.

In Overwatch, the player must choose between 21 unique characters, which can be freely selected in a loosely held classification system (offensive and defensive class, support unit and tanks).

A character’s three to four different abilities can be controlled and activated through the mouse and keyboard. The game modes already vary from scoring points to cargo hauling. Team play is required in both modes, as each character takes on a specific role in the battlefield (e.g. heal teammates, provide backup, or secure defensive lines).

The name Overwatch derives itself from a fictional elite military unit that came together when robots tried to subjugate humanity in a near future. Individual characters are associated with this unit in the game, while others oppose it. It is not yet known whether the storyline will continue in multiplayer.

Brawl

Brawl is a game mode in which time-limited rule variations of the well-known modes are drawn. Sometimes completely new game modes are used in Brawls.

Rule variations include, for example, the restriction to certain heroes or classes, changes to the cool-down times or certain cards. New game modes that have been playable so far include a soccer game and a PvE mode.

Usually, Brawls are restarted as Brawl of the Week every Tuesday at 22:00 UTC and are then playable for a week. On certain occasions, such as – Season al events, Brawls may also be playable for a longer or shorter period of time.

The game mode is comparable to the card chaos from Hearthstone and was activated for the first time in the beta phase on March 22, 2016 through a patch.

Actions

• Arcade: More health, shorter skill and ultimate cooldowns, and faster resurrection after death.
• Girl Power: Female heroes only.
• Head’s Up!: McCree, Genji, Hanzo, and Widowmaker. Only head hits count.
• High Noon: High Noon on Route 66, only head hits with McCree count.
• Highly Offensive: Only offensive heroes. Limit is two of the same hero per team.
• Junkenstein’s Revenge: Soldier, Hanzo, Ana, Mc Cree only (1 each). The first co-op PVE mode in Overwatch. Part of the – Season al event Halloween Horror.
• Justice rains from Above: Only Mercy and Pharah playable.
• Moba Watch: Only unique heroes per team. No hero switching allowed.
• Mystery Heroes: Upon death, you will be resurrected as a randomly selected Hero.
• Overly Defensive: Only defensive heroes. Limit is two of the same hero per team.
• Show Your Support: Support Heroes only. The limit is two of the same Hero per team.
• Super Shimada Bros: Welcome to Hanamura. Only Hanzo and Genji are playable. Shorter skill cooldowns, longer ultimate cooldowns.
• Tanks A Lot: Tank heroes only. Limit is two of the same hero per team.
• The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Only McCree, Reaper and Roadhog playable.
• We’re all Soldiers now: Only Soldier: 76 playable on control cards.
• Lucioball: Lucio only: Soccer mode, 3 vs 3.
• Yeti Hunt: Five meis against a yeti that has the characteristics of Winston.

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