Overwatch gamers on the PC platform can now access their updated versions and experience the new Competitive Play starting today.
Meanwhile, players on the Xbox One and PS4 will unfortunately have to wait for another week to get the update on their consoles. Blizzard has not announced any specific dates for the release but does reveal that the patch for both platforms is now waiting for approval from the necessary parties.
A community manager on the Battle.net forums did not state why the update patch was not done simultaneously but instead assured players that the company is working hard on "refining" the patch process so that future updates will be released "as closely as possible" on all platforms.
"Although our Battle.net client will always allow us to be [agiler] on PC, we hope to reach a point where we can release major updates on PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 simultaneously," the community post writes.
In other news, the much-awaited Summer Season for Competitive Play ranking will be cut from a duration of three months to two. This is due to the delayed release of the new game mode, which "technically" should've been released when the month started.
The new Summer Season will now run for an estimated 1.5 months instead of the supposed 2.5 months, ending on Aug. 18 across all platforms — PC, Xbox and PS4 — despite a later release for consoles. PC platform gamers will have more of a time advantage against console players to get used to and garner skill ranks.
The succeeding season, fall 2016, will begin as soon as the two-week break in between seasons is complete and will presumably run for the normal three-month period unless the company states otherwise. Details have yet to be confirmed.
As for the reason why the summer period was reduced, the company listed two major reasons that seem appropriate for the decision. First, Blizzard wanted to give Overwatch players the chance to experience the full competitive mode as early as possible, getting a taste of the rewards as soon as they can accomplish such and, second, to give the company a chance, on the other hand, to push out the necessary patches and fixes for complications or scenarios that arise from the Overwatch Competitive Play mode, very much like an Alpha testing release.
"[B]y getting the system out there sooner, we can start making improvements based on your feedback sooner," the community post adds.
To check out the company's plans for fall 2016, more information can be accessed through the Battle.net forums.
