Overwatch 2 delays first major balance patch over a "critical issue"

Overwatch 2
(Image credit: Blizzard)

Overwatch 2's big mid-seღason balance patch has been delayed. 

The update was scheduled to go live today, November 15, but Blizzard pushed it back at the last minute. In a to the Blizzard forums, community manager Craig explained that "today’s patch is delayed as 😼we work to resolve a critical issue. We’ll provide an update here and set the patch live as s෴oon as the problem is addressed."

"This includes the upcoming balance changes, bug fixes, including those that affect Mei, and core content updates wꦯe have planned for this patch," the post continues. This delay will also affect Overwatch League viewership bonuses and cosmetics, but the standard shop refresh, as well as daily and weekly challenges, will reset as normal. 

This update was announced just under three weeks ago, with nerfs to Genji and Zarya 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:headlining the balance changes. Sombra is also getting a non-trivial nerf, and Kiriko and D.Va are getting ღsome slight tweaks as well. Getting ahead of players shocked by the lack of Sojourn nerfs, lead hero designer Alec Dawson was quick to confirm Blizzard is actively looking at changes to the infamous DPS. 

This patch was also scheduled to 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:free Mei from Blizzard jail after she was disabled two weeks ago following the discovery of a game-breaking interaction with Kiriko. It's unclear if Mei is related to the "critical issue" that caused Blizzard to delay this patch, but if she is, that is🌸 kind of funny. Mei was the third hero to be disabled in the span of a month, though things have quieted down si🀅nce. 

We don't yet know if this delay is going to be a few hours or more like a few days; Blizzard support has been quiet since that initial forum post. Nevertheless, Blizzard sꦡays "we’ll be working on releasing this patch as soon as possible." 

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Austin Wood
Senior writer

Austin has been a game journalist for 12 years, having freelanced for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree. He's been with GamesRadar+ since 2019. They've yet to realize his position is a cover for his career-spanninಌg Destiny colu𝓰mn, and he's kept the ruse going with a lot of news and the occasional feature, all while playing as many roguelikes as possible.