‘Overwatch’ Competitive Play mode sees changes in Assault mode, ranking system and sudden death, overtakes ‘League of Legends’ in Korea

Blizzard is setting up the release of the Competitive Play for “Overwatch.” This is the feature that players are looking forward to, and one that Blizzard has promised to deliver at the end of June.

In a developer update, seen in the video below, Game Director Jeff Kaplan gives some more details on the mode. For those who are not yet familiar with Competitive Play, this mode is actually where players are more focused in terms of strategy and healthy competition against other players.

The season length from just one month to a three-month season, which will be based on the actual seasons of the year. This means that when the feature comes out, it will be around the summer season, with every season expected to have a break for the reset.

Other updates that Blizzard has already touched on before was the change from progression-based to a skill-based ranking system. Following placement matches, players will now be determined their tiers, and will then depend on their skill when it comes to the opponent that they will face against.

One of the new updates involve changes in the way players will end up with a Sudden Death match in their hands. Blizzard also wanted to minimise the instances when games will end up in Sudden Death matches.

“We want it to be a rare special thing when in fact the teams were very close, not just something that was happening 35 to 50 percent of the time,” said Kaplan. “Now that when Sudden Death happens, it will resolve on the map you are playing. It won’t go to a random Control point map after that.”

Kaplan also teased that there will be new heroes and maps coming later in the year. Additionally, the team plans to work on some “quality of life” features, among which is the improvement of the spectate mode for broadcasting and observing.

The popularity of “Overwatch” has been evident, so much so that in Korea, the game has overtaken “League of Legends” as a popular title. According to MCVUK, “Overwatch” had a 0.4 percent lead over LoL in terms of PC bangs play, as seen by GettoGold.

However, it has yet to completely take away the lead from LoL as far as the entire country’s PC bangs ratings is concerned. Considering that “Overwatch” has just been released, it is possible that the upsurge in play has something to do with the launch. It does show that Blizzard’s continued appreciation and application of fan feedback may be working to keep its growing player base steady and expanding.