A new Overwatch patch is currently in development and now available for testing on the Public Test Region. For information on how to participate and what changes are included in the upcoming patch, read on below.
Mission details:
If you encounter any game-related bugs while playing the PTR, please post in the PTR Bug Report forum.
To participate in the public test, you must have an Overwatch game license for Windows PC attached your Battle.net account in good standing (i.e. it hasn’t been suspended or banned).
Step 1: Restart the Battle.net desktop app.
Step 2: Navigate to the Overwatch tab on the left-hand menu.
Step 3: Select “PTR: Overwatch” from the REGION/ACCOUNT drop-down menu.
Step 4: Click “Install” to begin the installation process.
Step 5: Once the PTR client is installed and updated, click “Play” to begin!
Note: In order to access the PTR, you must have installed Overwatch and logged into the game at least once. If the PTR is not available for you after following the steps above, trying logging into Overwatch, exiting the game client, and then launching the PTR again.
Q. On which platforms is the PTR available?
A. The PTR is available on Windows PC only.
Q. What regions are eligible to participate in the PTR?
A. Accounts from all regions (excluding China) are eligible to participate; however, the PTR will be hosted on our Americas region. As a result, if you plan to play the PTR from a region outside the US, please anticipate lowered performance and increased latency.
Q. Is there a cap to how many players can participate on the PTR?
A. The PTR can currently support 10k concurrent players (or players logged into the PTR at the same time). If we happen to reach this cap, any new players attempting to log in to the PTR will be placed into a queue.
Q. What languages will be supported on the PTR?
A. The PTR is available in all supported languages, though some content may not be fully localized yet.
Q. Will any account progress from the live game transfer over to the PTR with me, or do I need to start from scratch?
A. A copy of your account from the live game will be transferred over to the PTR automatically, and all progress will transfer over with it (level, unlocks, stats, etc.). Please note that this copy is pre-made, though, and based on an earlier snapshot of your account. As a result, depending on when you last played, your PTR account may not be as up-to-date as your live game account.
Q. Will any progress I make on the PTR transfer over to the live game?
A. No. Any progression earned during the PTR—including levels, achievements, stats, skill ratings, loot boxes (including rewards from loot boxes), currency (including Competitive Points), and cosmetic items unlocked with currency—will not transfer over to the live game.
Q. Will I be able to purchase Loot Boxes on the PTR?
A. No. All real-money purchases are disabled on the PTR.
Q. Where can I share feedback about the upcoming patch content?
A. This iteration of the PTR is intended to make sure the upcoming patch is working correctly before it’s released, so we’ll be primarily focused on uncovering major bugs and technical issues. Though you are still welcome to share your feedback through our normal channels, it’s unlikely that we’ll be able to incorporate changes based on PTR feedback in this patch cycle.
Please note that the below patch notes only include changes currently available for testing on the PTR. While many of these changes will also be available on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in a future patch, the PTR is PC-only and therefore will only reflect changes coming specifically to that platform.GENERAL
General
- Details about each hero’s unique backstory, along with information about some of their lore-inspired skins, have been added to the Hero Gallery
Competitive Play
- A tracking system has been added to Assault and Assault/Escort Maps that will allow us to break ties based on the progress that was made toward capturing the objective.
Developer Comments: To mitigate draws in Competitive Play, we’re implementing a system that tracks each team’s progress on the objective. This will work similarly to the system that’s already in place for Escort and Assault/Escort maps, which grants a win to the team that pushes the payload the furthest. Now, even if neither team successfully captures the objective, a winner can be determined based on which team captured the largest portion.
For testing purposes, the Competitive Play map rotation will be limited to Eichenwalde and Hanamura.
Custom Games and Game Browser
- Custom Game settings can now be saved as a preset from the game’s details page
- Access by right-clicking on the map image from the Create Game page or right-clicking a game name from inside the Game Browser
Maps
- A new route has been added to Eichenwalde that connects the attacking team’s spawn area to the capture point
HERO UPDATES
Lúcio
- Sonic Amplifier
- Projectile speed increased from 40 to 50
- Alternate fire now considers vertical orientation when knocking targets back
- Crossfade
- Song’s area-of-effect radius decreased from 30 meters to 10 meters
- A temporary in-game visual has been added to illustrate this radius (it is only visible to Lúcio and his teammates)
- Heal Song
- Healing-per-second has been increased by 50% (also applies to Lúcio’s Amp It Up ability)
- Sound Barrier
- Radius decreased from 30 meters to 20 meters
- Wall Ride
- Movement speed increased by 30% when wall riding
- Lúcio now receives a burst of speed when leaping off a wall
Developer Comments: Lucio has often felt like a must-pick due to his raw healing output and the versatility of providing a speed bonus to your entire team. The goal of these changes is to keep those elements feeling strong, but making them harder to apply to everyone on your team at all times. The end result is that he should feel stronger with teams that he can stay close to but not as strong when on teams with heroes that are often spread out (such as Pharah, Widow, Genji, etc). Much of Lucio’s character power was tied up in his large passive auras, which caused other elements of his kit to be weakened over time in an attempt to balance him. Now that his auras are more focused it will allow them to be much stronger and allow Lucio to be more active in his role.
BUG FIXES
General
- Fixed a bug preventing achievements from being unlocked during off-season competitive matches
- Fixed an issue that prevented voice lines from being heard during the Play of the Game
- Fixed an issue that prevented voice lines from playing on Control maps
Custom Games and Game Browser
- Fixed an issue that allowed empty player slots to be displayed even when disabled (e.g. in 6v1 games)
- Fixed a bug preventing the pause feature from working properly after the original host has left the match
- Fixed a bug that allowed extremely long team names
Heroes
- Ana no longer cocks her rifle after throwing a grenade
- The brightness on Bastion’s Golden gun has been toned down when the BlizzCon skin is equipped
- Fixed a bug causing Mei’s pinky to bend awkwardly in some poses with her Chang’e and Luna skins equipped
Maps
- Fixed a bug on Eichenwalde that allowed enemy player outlines to be seen through a pile of dirt at the castle gate
- Fixed an issue on Eichenwalde that allowed players to become trapped in the broken castle doors
- Fixed a bug that allowed Sombra to reach unintended locations on King’s Row
- Fixed a bug that allowed players to reach unintended areas on the Capture the Flag version of Lijiang Tower
- Fixed a bug that allowed Symmetra to hide turrets in unintended locations on Oasis
