Before the holidays get into full swing, the Overwatch developers have a few gifts to give out to the community.
The game’s Dec. 15 live patch mostly focuses on the 2020 Winter Wonderland event, but substantial improvements to the Replay Viewer will help content creators and spectators produce better games. In addition, the Priority Pass system is now live, rewarding players for filling in necessary roles to improve the queue system.
Priority Passes
Teased in last month’s Developer Update, the Priority Pass system has now hit the live Overwatch servers.
Players can now choose the “Flex” option when queuing for a game, which means they agree to play any of the three roles required to reduce queue times. After doing this, the player will earn Priority Passes that will “decrease queue time for a role currently experiencing higher traffic,” according to the developers.
During the flex games, players will earn more Priority Passes for wins than for losses, encouraging teamwork and quality play.
In competitive and quick play mode, the damage role often has the highest traffic and longest queue times. By flexing to support or tank to earn Priority Passes, players will also be helping others experience lower queue times as a result.
Replay Viewer
Content creators and game spectators now have a whole new set of toys to play with in the upgraded Replay Viewer system. To make for a fine-tuned experience, developers have added increased levels of playback speed control along with the ability to change spectator camera behavior.
Numerous user interface options can now be independently toggled or customized, allowing for more creative control over a replay’s visuals. Player names, team banners, and player outline strength can all be customized or removed to create an immersive experience. Before this update, content creators had to work with the base red and blue as well as every standard UI piece.
All of the usual Overwatch information, like first-person weapon information or ultimate percentage, can now be toggled on or off. The full list of Replay Viewer changes can be found in the Dec. 15 patch notes.
These changes, as well as the 2020 Winter Wonderland event, are now live on all Overwatch platforms.
