Overwatch

Belgium Says Loot Boxes In Games Like Overwatch Are Illegal

Loot boxes in FIFA 18, Overwatch, and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive are now illegal in Belgium, with the country’s legislators declaring today that if the games’ publishers don’t remove the offending microtransactions, people behind the games could face fines and even time behind bars. As reported by Eurogamer, Belgium minister of justice Koen Greens said in…

Overwatch‘s Symmetra Mains Agree: The Problem Is Other Players

Despite striving for order and balance in all things, Symmetra has always been the odd woman out on Overwatch’s hero roster. On the verge of yet another rework, Symmetra mains—often the butt of verbal abuse—say that despite everything, they don’t want her to change all that much. Symmetra is a character who just can’t seem…

How Some Of The Best Cosplay On Earth Is Made

While the traditional idea of building cosplay invokes the image of one or two people toiling away on an outfit, Henchmen Studios work on an almost industrial scale, drawing on the talents of massive teams to produce work so good that they’re often hired by Blizzard to help debut Overwatch characters. Take the company’s latest…

Overwatch Contenders’ Playoffs Are A Proving Ground For New Talent

Many eyes are on the Overwatch League right now, but while stage 3 carries on, the secondary Overwatch division is heating up. As the Overwatch Contenders playoffs come to a close, you should be watching. Contenders is a developmental subset, like a minor league for the Overwatch League. Players in each region compete in their…

Overwatch‘s New Map Is A Beautiful But Imbalanced Deathtrap

Among Overwatch fans, King’s Row is generally regarded as the game’s best map. It doesn’t do any one thing perfectly, but each of its points emphasizes different heroes’ strengths and strategies. The game’s new map, Rialto, seems to want to be a balmier King’s Row, but I don’t feel like it’s quite there yet. Rialto,…

We’re streaming Overwatch’s new map, Rialto, on Twitch The map, which is a payload-pushing revamp of the map from Retribution’s PVE mode, just went up on the PTR today. We’re going in blind, so you can see if we think it’s any good in real time

New Reaper Action Figure Looks Great

Ignoring my repeated demands for a Figma Mercy, Good Smile have instead decided that the next kickass Overwatch figure is going to be Reaper. He’s out in Feb 2019. And while he doesn’t actually come with any extra gear, he does come with some pieces that simulate effects like Death Blossom and Shadow Step. Reaper…

The Dumbest Things We Got Past Overwatch‘s Custom Jersey Censor

Just like in every other sports league, you can now make your own custom Overwatch League jerseys, and certain words are banned from them. They’re mostly obvious, including “butt,” “fuck,” “God,” “Satan,” “Jeffkaplan,” “bitch,” “dick,” “trans,” “XQC,” “trihard,” “sex,” “WarCraft,” “StarCraft,” “Diablo,” “kill,” “Nazi,” “Democrat,” Republican,” “ass,” “fanny,” “doggystyle,” “Pen15,” and “80085.” But there are…

Overwatch Players Figure Out How To Play As Villains From New PVE Mode

Ever since I first got brutalized by an assassin in Overwatch’s new Retribution PVE mode, I’ve wanted to leap on my foes and claw holes in their chests. Recently, a handful of Overwatch players figured out how to do exactly that. Problem: they did it in the game’s competitive mode, giving them a huge upper…

Overwatch League Fans Upset Korean Casters Won’t Say One Player’s Name

Given Overwatch’s popularity in Korea, it’s not surprising that Overwatch League has a separate broadcast with Korean commentary in addition to the regular English one. What is surprising is how much English-speaking viewers suddenly care about it in the wake of the Korean commentary team electing not to mention the name of formerly suspended Dallas…

Overwatch Fans Are Drawing McCree As A Waiter Thanks To The New Event

Thanks to some new voice lines, the Overwatch fandom is geeking out over the idea of the surly cowboy McCree dressed as a waiter. I am here for it. Overwatch’s Retribution event expands a part of lore players have been wanting to explore. The event takes place during a mission where Blackwatch, the Overwatch team’s…

You can now win Overwatch’s Retribution mission even if your teammates won’t get in the dang dropship. Blizzard released a small update today that, among other tweaks, causes the dropship to “leave incapacitated players behind to complete the mission.” Sorry, bloodthirsty Rambo wannabes. You deserve this.

Overwatch Devs Accidentally Buff Hanzo’s Most Hated Ability

Yesterday, Hanzo mains the world over discovered a pleasant surprise while using their one ability that actually does damage: scatter arrow now has a shorter cooldown, meaning it can be used more often. Blizzard admits this buff was accidental, but for the time being, may not revert it. Scatter arrow fires an arrow that fragments…

Blizzard sneakily announced a short Competitive 6 vs. 6 Elimination season for Overwatch’s arcade mode, which lasts until May 7. First team to win three times—that is, eliminate the enemy team—wins. Once a player wins with a hero, that hero is locked for the remaining rounds. Players have wanted this forever

The Overwatch League’s Dallas Fuel Keep Firing And Suspending People

The Overwatch League’s Dallas Fuel have released both their head coach Kyle “KyKy” Souder and star DPS player Dong-jun “Rascal” Kim. It’s the latest in a long line of roster shifts and struggles for the team, which has underperformed for the past several weeks Their biggest issue initially was the suspension and subsequent firing of…

Dusk Gets What Made Classic Shooters Great

Dusk is a throwback first-person shooter that released earlier this year. Comparing it with another shooter, Strafe, shows that one of the most important factors in recapturing classic FPS magic is memorable level design. Dusk has everything you’d expect from a Doom tribute game: chunky shotguns, secret rooms, and waves of demonic monsters eager to…

Overwatch Pro Reveals The Perfect Time To Use Genji’s Ultimate

It can be difficult to know when to activate that hard-earned ultimate, especially when you’re playing a lower-health hero like Genji. Luckily, the Los Angeles Gladiators’ own João Pedro “Hydration” Goes Telles has you covered. In an all-access Q&A last night, the Overwatch League pro was asked, “How do you manage Genji’s ultimate? What’s the…

Overwatch Ships, Ranked 

At a recent Philadelphia Fusion watch party, a man proposed to his girlfriend by asking her to “be the Mercy to my Genji.” I am very happy for this couple, but I must have a word with them about their taste in Overwatch ships. It’s true that Mercy/Genji is the closest thing to a canon…

How Two Underage Girls Say An Overwatch Pro Took Advantage Of Them

When Overwatch pro Jonathan “DreamKazper” Sanchez followed Anna* back on Twitter, she was in shock. A 16-year-old high school junior, Anna had only just purchased Overwatch for her Xbox One but was sold on the league of charismatic pros championing the blockbuster first-person shooter. The first game she tuned in for was New York versus…

Overwatch‘s New PvE Event Is Its Best Yet

Overwatch got its spring event yesterday, which includes a new player-versus-environment mode where players can take down swarms of killer soldiers in a picturesque, futuristic Venice. Retribution, the new PvE mode, is absolutely the best of its kind yet. It might have players asking why Overwatch can’t get its own story mode already. Retribution is…