It's clear Overwatch is designed to appeal to a wide range of gamers of all ages and skill levels. It's part of what makes Blizzard's shooter so fun.
Even players who aren't FPS pros can have a good time by playing as characters that don't require amazing twitch-reflexes in order to succeed.
That being said, there are definitely heroes in Overwatch that greatly benefit from being able to land headshots from across the map, namely in the form of characters like Hanzo, Widowmaker and McCree. Each of these characters can deal damage from long range, and with a headshot, can take opponents down in as little as one hit.
Turns out nailing a critical headshot isn't as hard as it sounds. As shown in a video from Force Gaming, the head hitboxes of Overwatch's cast of heroes is much larger than the actual head of each character.
What's a hitbox? It's essentially an area that, when shot, will register as a hit. It's how the game detects whether or not a player is actually being hit by bullets. Generally, a hitbox will surround a character model but might not cover pieces of clothing or other costume elements that might extend outside the character's silhouette.
In this case, the head hitbox for Overwatch characters is much larger than their actual heads. The hitboxes extend to the left, right and above of the actual head on each given character. What does this mean? It means it's much easier to land a headshot in Overwatch than in other first-person shooters. As demonstrated in the video, players can aim almost a head-length above, to the left or to the right of any given character's head, and it will still register as a headshot. One segment in the video even shows that players can actually score a headshot on a character that is completely hidden behind a wall, all by properly aiming at the generous hitbox that extends to either side of the character's head.
This makes sniper characters like Hanzo and Widowmaker much, much more powerful, as the level of skill required to be efficient with each character is decreased significantly. Headshots deal significantly more damage than hits to the body, so these characters can swiftly take out foes with well-placed shots thanks to their long-range weapons. Even if you aren't playing a sniper character, it's still a good piece of information to have under your belt regardless of your hero of choice. As they say, knowing is half the battle, and this bit of information might just give you an edge.
