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Overwatch Patch 1.25 Now Live

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A brand new patch for Overwatch has gone live and we have all the details regarding Patch 1.25, which aims to upgrade to experience while setting the table for a new hero and potentially more.

The main takeaway is the re-working of Symmetra in what is a much needed, long-awaited overhaul to the hero, as well as major changes to the Horizon Lunar Colony.

Here are the official patch notes:

Endorsements

Acknowledge your fellow Overwatch players’ positivity with endorsements! Recognize commendable behavior for players exhibiting sportsmanship, being a good teammate, or for shot calling. Commend players who lead you to victory, put the team’s needs above their own, or exhibit humility in victory or grace in defeat. Endorsements are readily available to view on Career Profiles, the Groups menu, and more so you can tell at a glance the types of players you’re playing with. Those who consistently maintain a high endorsement level will receive periodic rewards, while those who display negative behavior or accrue suspensions will lose their endorsements.

Looking for Group

Play your way using the Looking for Group feature! You can control your gameplay experience before stepping into a match by using specific parameters to create your dream team. Join a team of other like-minded players or lead a group of your own by creating a group with your personal preferences such as game mode, role enforcement, and more. Those who want to queue up for Quick Play, Play vs AI, or any competitive mode can set the types of roles others can play. These specifications will then be activated in-game (e.g. players who chose a support role will be restricted to only using heroes in that category).

GENERAL UPDATES

GENERAL

Developer Comments:“Since the line between Offense and Defense heroes has become increasingly blurred, we’ve decided to group all those heroes into a single new “Damage” category. We believe that the term more closely matches the role name that is now being used in Overwatch League and across most of the game’s community.”
  • All heroes in the Defense and Offense categories have been merged into a new category: Damage
  • Combat can now be heard 25% further away
  • Changed the name of the Varok spray to Saurfang
  • [PC] Players must have Blizzard SMS Protect enabled on their account to be eligible for the Top 500
  • The Acknowledge and Interact buttons are now separate input bindings

CAREER PROFILE

  • Added an Inspire Uptime Percentage statistic for Brigitte on the Career Profile
  • Removed some statistics for Symmetra on the Career Profile
  • Added a Scoped Critical Hit Accuracy statistic for Widowmaker on the Career Profile
  • Career Profiles will no longer be public by default (now defaults to Friends Only). An option to make Career Profiles visible has been added under Options > Social > Profile Visibility

ARCADE UPDATES

GENERAL

  • Symmetra can now be played in 1v1 duel game modes (e.g. 1v1 Limited Duel and 1v1 Mystery Duel)

HERO UPDATES

DOOMFIST

Developer Comments The increased movement speed on Meteor Strike gives Doomfist new options in how and where to deploy it. His passive is also being increased, allowing him to survive more often when diving into enemies.
METEOR STRIKE
  • Bonus movement speed increased from 150% to 200%
THE BEST DEFENSE…
  • Shield gain increased from 30 to 35 for normal abilities

MCCREE

Developer Comments While McCree’s Deadeye rarely came into play at 70 meters, we are increasing the range so it cannot be a limiting factor during normal gameplay.
DEADEYE
  • Range increased from 70 meters to 200 meters

ORISA

Developer Comments Supercharger wasn’t getting enough use, considering its impact. This change allows Orisa to use her ultimate more aggressively, knowing that she will be able to generate them more easily.
SUPERCHARGER
  • Ultimate cost reduced by 15%

SYMMETRA

Developer Comments The goal of these changes is to move Symmetra to her new damage role and make her more flexible and viable across more areas of the game than she was previously. Now that Symmetra is no longer a support hero, she is expected to be able to dish out heavy damage, and these changes allow for her to do so. She should be more powerful and interesting in more team compositions and maps, and she should also be stronger on offense and defense.
PHOTON PROJECTOR
  • No longer locks onto targets
  • Range increased to 10 meters
  • Damage ramping now takes 2 seconds per damage level instead of 1 second
  • Damage ramp increased from 30/60/120 to 60/120/180
  • Now generates ammo instead of spending it when hitting a barrier
  • Ammo reduced from 100 to 70
ALTERNATE FIRE
  • No longer pierces targets
  • Now explodes on contact
  • Projectile speed increased
  • Charge up speed increased
  • Damage changed to 60 impact / 60 explosive
SENTRY TURRET
  • Turret is now placed like a projectile instead of being set in place
  • Can hold a max of 3, down from 6
  • Can now deploy a max 3, down from 6
  • Damage increased
  • Amount of slowing effect increased
TELEPORTER
  • Can now place the exit up to 25 meters away from Symmetra
  • Entrance will automatically be built in front of Symmetra, rather than at her team’s spawn point
  • Lasts 10 seconds
  • Health lowered to 300
  • More things can teleport through it (e.g. Junkrat’s RIP-Tire)
  • Entrance can be destroyed
    • If either the entrance or exit is destroyed, the other is removed
NEW ULTIMATE: PHOTON BARRIER
  • Deploys a barrier that is big enough to span and cut through an entire map
  • Orientation can be changed by pressing the ultimate button again
  • Lasts 15 seconds
  • Has 5000 health

MAP UPDATES

HORIZON LUNAR COLONY

Developer Comments: We’ve wanted to make some gameplay improvements to Horizon Lunar Colony for some time now. The defenders’ spawn room had a problem with its main exit that allowed defenders to quickly duck back inside and regain health while attackers shot at them without doing damage. Since we were already reworking the entire back area, we decided to make some more changes addressing player feedback. The idea behind the rework of Point A was to not only help the defenders a bit, but also provide some gameplay options aside from sitting on the point and trying to hold it for as long as possible. Easier access to high ground, as well as limiting the routes for attackers (or at least allowing for defenders to more easily spot the attackers), will allow more opportunity for counters and create a better gameplay experience.We’ve made a lot of additions and changes to the art throughout the map for you to discover as well.

  • Point A

    • Added a staircase on the right when exiting the Hydroponics Room
    • Removed the door to the lower room on the right
    • Removed the small wall on the catwalk above Point A
    • Added some cover walls to the catwalk area
    • Moved the door next to the staircase that led to Winston’s room
    • The door is now on the side of the wall in the training pit
    • Moved the large health pack to the back of the room
    • Removed some clutter in the upper left computer room
  • Hydroponics Room

    • Switched the positions of the large and small health pack
    • Changed some of the hydroponic plant cover on the right
  • Point B

    • Defender spawn room exits moved from the front to the sides out of direct line of fire

    • Small rooms added at spawn room exits

    • Additional cover added near the spawn room exits

    • Added a route and larger platform leading to the back right corner

    • Raised the platform to the same height as the attackers’ platform on the opposite side of the point

    • The location of the old defender exit is now an alcove with a small health pack

    • Both teams can still pass behind the point, but there is now a cut-through in the middle of the wall for better access

    • The area above the window overlooking the point is now covered

    • A large platform with cover has been attached to the left side of the catwalk

    • The upper platform for the attackers has been reduced

    • The doorway leading to the platform is slightly smaller

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Patreon Hires Twitch’s Adiya Taylor as New Corporate Communications Lead

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Content creation platform Patreon has officially tabbed Adiya Taylor as their new corporate communications lead, effective in February, according to an official announcement.

Taylor worked for Amazon’s video game streaming platform Twitch for three years in a variety of roles, most recently serving as the company’s senior monetization communications manager prior to her departure.

Taylor’s hiring comes after Patreon brought on Brielle Villablanca as Vice President of communications and creator advocacy back in November 2023.

“I’m thrilled to begin crafting and implementing a communications strategy around policy, trust and safety, product and more,” Taylor said during an official post on the networking platform LinkedIn, adding that she believes Patreon is a “true advocate” for creators.

“I’m looking forward to more storytelling around how we’re fostering fandom so that creators own long-lasting businesses built around their artistry,” Taylor added.

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Microsoft Bringing Four Games to Rival Consoles

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microsoft

Microsoft has responded to recent reports that there will be changes to it’s first-party strategy and has confirmed that four game titles will be released on rival consoles.

More specifically, Xbox head Phil Spencer said that ‘Starfield’ and ‘Indiana Jones’ will not be among the four titles heading to other platforms. Both games had a number of candidate platforms, per reports, adding that this is “not a change to our fundamental exclusive strategy.”

“We don’t damage Xbox and we can grow our business using what other platforms have to help us with that,” Spencer said, according to GamesIndustry.biz.  “Looking forward, I think there is an interesting story for us of introducing Xbox franchises to players on other platforms to get them more interested in Xbox. We think there’s a good brand value for Xbox there.”

Xbox president Sarah Bond announced that Activision Blizzard games would begin to be added into Game Pass offerings, starting with Diablo 4, which will be added on March 28th.

Additionally, Bond said that Microsoft is still working on hardware for the future and that their focus regarding the future is “delivering the largest technical leap you will ever have seen in a hardware generation.”

 

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Sega’s Revenue See Rise to $27 Billion

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Sega

Sega Sammy has released its financial report for the nine-month period that officially concluded on December 31st, 2023, and that report that demonstrated a rise in overall sales and profit despite a decrease in sales for Sega’s new titles.

That decline was offset by growth in pachislot and pachinko machines, however Sega had lowered its sales forecasts for the full financial year.

Here is a breakdown, courtesy of GamesIndustry.biz.

  • Net sales: ¥349.9 billion ($2.3 billion, up 28.7% year-on-year)
  • Operating income: ¥54.4 billion ($364 million, up 42.4% year-on-year)
  • Ordinary income: ¥57.2 billion ($383 million, up 42.7% year-on-year)
  • Net sales were up 130.3% to ¥120.2 billion ($805 million) in this segment
  • Ordinary income increased by 521.3% at ¥45.7 billion ($306 million).
  • Entertainment Contents segment, which includes video games, net sales were up 4.2% at ¥219.3 billion
  • Profit decreased by 52.5% to ¥19.7 billion ($131.8 million) as a result of weak game sales

You can read a breakdown of the entire report at GamesIndustry.biz here.

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