In an unexpected move, Blizzard has released patch 1.45 on the Public Test Region, introducing a slew of new features.
Following on from Jeff Kaplan’s (Overwatch lead designer and prominent figurehead in the Overwatch community) developer update last week, Blizzard have released patch 1.45 into the wild, ahead of its release on the live servers on the 5th of March.
The update introduces hero pools – a controversial new way of preventing a stagnant meta. The core idea is that by banning certain heroes based on their popularity, players would be forced to pick other heroes making it impossible for a meta to form for any long period of time. The ban is set to be created on a weekly basis but right now it seems to be working at an hourly rate so everyone on the PTR can experience the ban in action.
Overwatch Game Director Jeff Kaplan discusses upcoming
additions to the game, including the Experimental Card,
Hero Pools, and more.📽️ https://t.co/bxYYnwiMQ7 pic.twitter.com/wMoIPdgZ99
— Overwatch (@PlayOverwatch) January 30, 2020
There have also been a number of smaller features:
- The Game Mode selector in the Career Profile is now sorted more logically to make it easier to use
- A group leader may not use the Leave as Group option while a competitive game is currently in progress
- The initial Assemble Heroes timer for games using the Assault, Hybrid, Control, and Payload game modes has been reduced from 40 to 35 seconds
- Mei’s Ice Wall now has a visual damaged state when under half health
- Updated the interactions between all stuns (Flashbang, Earthshatter, Freeze, Sleep, Accretion) to be more consistent
The workshop has been given the royal treatment with budding game mode developers now having access to advanced actions, values and optimisations as well as subroutines and scripts diagnostics panels, meaning creators will now be able to create even more crazier things for people to play while they wait in the role queue. In addition to these new features, three new maps have been created: ‘Workshop Chamber’, ‘Workshop Island’ and ‘Workshop Expanse’.
Giving you a little extra!
Developers Zach Metcalf and Dan Reed chat about new maps, new tools, and quality-of-life improvements coming to the Overwatch Workshop.
🔧: https://t.co/f0GGl3kccs pic.twitter.com/MJb2OIvzPG
— Overwatch (@PlayOverwatch) February 4, 2020
It should also be worth noting that Blizzard are looking to bring PTR into the main game servers, meaning console players will be able to experiment with new features before they go live. It is unclear whether Blizzard will scrap the test servers or if they will keep them online.
If you’re a console player or do not fancy hopping onto the PTR, you’ll be able to test out patch 1.45 on March 5th.
