*It’s the time, of the sea-son for buff-ing*
In a new developer update video, Jeff Kaplan has outlined some experimental changes that will be implemented in the next season of Blizzard’s shooter juggernaut Overwatch.
First, the season is being shortened from three months to two. This is because figures are showing that the majority of players only hit a season hard for the first month, then tend to slow down, or stop entirely, in the latter two. Removing the third month hopes to concentrate player focus more tightly, rather than have it drop off by week six or seven.
Second big change is that Control maps will be switching from best-of-five to a best-of-three format (similar to Quick Play). This new format hopes to cut down the amount of matches resulting in overtime losses on the final control point after lengthy battles, hopefully enabling sets to run quicker, and allowing for more overall matches to be played.
Further adjustments are being made to matchmaking in efforts to ensure players in Competitive are placed into teams with comparable skill levels. Although Jeff’s mentions that the tighter these efforts to sync up skill-matched players become, the length of time it will add to waiting in lobbies.
These changes, along with other general tweaks, will be monitored once implemented into the upcoming season six, and can be rolled back should they prove detrimental to the mode. The current season ends August 28, with season six beginning shortly thereafter.
