The best Overwatch 2 maps make the best use of every inch and create multiple paths for both teams to experiment, and we ranked them all
The best Overwatch 2 maps make the best use of every inch and create multiple paths for both teams to experiment and improvise. What that looks like is different depending on which mode you’re playing. The cramped confines of an elimination map would be a disaster for deathmatch, for example. But whatever your objective, there’s no shortage of excellent maps in Blizzard’s multiplayer game. There’s almost no bad map – almost, because Lunar Colony and Paris exist – but we decided to rank them all anyway.
At the time of publication, Blizzard just launched Overwatch 2 season 4, and the most recent map addition is Antarctica.
Blizzard made a surprise announcement that the team is running a second Diablo 4 beta before the RPG launches in June
Blizzard made a surprise announcement that the team is running a second Diablo 4 beta before the RPG launches in June. The news comes a few days after Blizzard announced a set of changes to Diablo 4’s dungeons and classes based on player feedback during the first beta.
The second Diablo 4 beta is open to everyone, regardless of whether you pre-ordered the game, and runs from May 12, 2023, at 12 p.m. Pacific time through May 14, 2023, at 12 p.m. Pacific time. It’s available on PC, PS4 and PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
Like the first beta, you can play through the prologue and the entire first act, which unfolds across the bleak Fractured Peaks zone. The big boss fight against Ashava returns, and you can get a glimpse at how some of the changes Blizzard made to dungeons will play out, including new enemy behavior that removes the need for backtracking.
Also like the first beta, your progress won’t carry over to the main game when it launches on June 6, 2023. However, there is a set of challenges you can complete that will unlock unique cosmetics in the full game. If you completed them previously, you don’t have to do it again in this beta.
Initial Casualty Title: earned by reaching Kyovashad with one character.
Early Voyager Title: earned by reaching Level 20 on one character.
Beta Wolf Pack Cosmetic Item: earned by reaching Level 20 on one character.
Cry of Ashava Mount Trophy: earned by defeating Ashava with one Level 20 character.
Level 20 is the cap this time, instead of level 25 as it was during the first beta. Legendary drop rates are adjusted to match their rates in the final game, so don’t expect to run across much legendary gear this time.
Blizzard released the Overwatch 2 season 4 patch notes ahead of the season’s April 11, 2023, release, and a few heroes are getting some big changes
Blizzard released the Overwatch 2 season 4 patch notes ahead of the season’s April 11, 2023, release, and a few heroes are getting some big changes. Sigma and Cassidy won’t be able to dominate the battlefield quite as easily anymore, while Mercy is better than ever, and Brigitte gets some much-needed changes to her ultimate. Other heroes received some minor changes, including Sombra – though not the sweeping overhaul Blizzard considered previously – Ana, and Reinhardt. Meanwhile, Blizzard is also releasing Lifeweaver at the start of the new season, a support hero who we think lives up to the role in more ways than just healing.
The new Overwatch 2 support hero Lifeweaver promises some exciting changes to the healer role in the multiplayer game
Blizzard announced Lifeweaver for Overwatch 2 in the not-distant past, but behind the scenes, I had been testing out the new support hero in a few capacities for about a week. Blizzard’s test servers are, naturally, not as populated as the public ones, so there wasn’t much chance to see how Lifeweaver works in high-pressure matches or over a long period of time. However, I still got a strong impression of what to expect, and it’s exciting not just for those times you’re stuck playing support in the multiplayer game, but for Blizzard’s vision for Overwatch 2 in general.
Lifeweaver feels like the first proper support – or first hero in general, really – built with Overwatch 2 and one-tank, 5v5 matches in mind. He combines Mercy’s mobility and dual heal-and-shoot setup with utility skills like those that Lucio and Ana have, and he’s the first support who can create a barrier to briefly shield allies, similar to how Zarya’s shield works.
His primary source of healing comes from his main attack, which you can swap to his thorn launcher at any time. The healing blossom sends small bursts of healing when you press the button, and you can hold the button to heal in a bigger burst without using any additional charges.
It’s a slightly odd choice. There probably aren’t many scenarios where you’ll use it at anything other than full or almost-full charge. Even in training mode, friendly bots died while I healed them using just the skill’s basic one-press version. It charges quickly, though. The time between starting and healing is about the same as it is to fire one of Baptiste’s grenades or Ana’s syringes, but there’s definitely room for balance adjustment here in the future.
Lifeweaver is no Moira when it comes to damage, but his thorns function similarly to Mercy’s pistol. He can easily defeat weaker DPS heroes and other support units and makes a decent show against the likes of Soldier 76 and Reaper. Just don’t send him into battle against more than one foe, since his mobility skill is not what you’d expect after reading the description.
His dash is a bit odd, at least in its pre-launch form. While the description says it works like Mercy’s movement skill and moves you near a targeted ally, it’s more of a spritely step than a proper dash. It moves him maybe a foot forward toward whichever ally you targeted. That won’t do much to safely get you out of danger, but on the bright side, it heals Lifeweaver by a decent amount and has a shorter cooldown timer than Baptiste’s self-healing skill.
The parts of Lifeweaver’s kit with the most potential are his Life Pull and Petal Platform skills. Life Pull grabs allies from a distance, pulls them over so they’re adjacent to Liveweaver, and protects them with a shield while tehy’re moving.
The obvious function is rescuing critically injured allies so Lifeweaver can heal them, but there’s so much more it can do. It lets Lifeweaver counter Roadhog’s hook and Lucio’s sonic blast to rescue allies falling over the edge and can even pull a wayward Winston back if he accidentally jumps too far. You can yank friends out of Widowmaker’s sites, save your tank from Mei’s blizzard, choose someone to pull back from Junkrat’s exploding tire – the possibilities are as far-reaching as the skill’s own rage (which is pretty far).
There’s a lengthy 18-second cooldown timer attached, though, so you’ll have to think carefully before using it.
The Petal Platform is even more interesting. Lifeweaver summons a large flower pad that raises itself several feet in the air when someone steps on it. It lasts for a few seconds or until someone destroys it, and you can it two or three allies on it at once. This seemingly simple skill lets you disrupt pretty much any enemy by changing their line of sight, and in some cases, it could make the difference between victory and defeat. Blizzard already showcased the pad interrupting Orisa’s ultimate, but you could also separate Annihilation-mode Ramattra from the source of his ultimate’s power or lift your team onto a ledge for a quick escape or to storm the enemy position.
In short, Lifeweaver is the first hero to warrant calling the role “support” instead of just “healer.” He expands the role far beyond just keeping friends alive, and it seems like a good deal of thought went into how he works not just with other heroes, but even how his skills relate to map geography as well His skillset is versatile, and I can’t wait to see how people use it in a proper setting and at higher competitive levels.
Blizzard said in 2022 that the team would work on making it more fun to land in the support slot in role queue matches, and Lifeweaver certainly seems like a big step toward fulfilling that promise.
Ahead of its ruling in April, the U.K. Competition and Markets Authority said it no longer thinks the Microsoft Activision deal is harmful
Ahead of its full ruling in April, the U.K. Competition and Markets Authority said it no longer thinks the Microsoft-Activision deal is harmful, at least in terms of console competition (thanks, The Verge). The commission says in its new report that new consumer behavior data suggests it would be against Microsoft’s business interests to make Call of Duty exclusive to Xbox platforms.
The CMA didn’t describe the data or why it changed the board’s opinion. However, doubt about the deal’s effects on cloud gaming remain.
“Having considered the additional evidence provided, we have now provisionally concluded that the merger will not result in a substantial lessening of competition in console gaming services because the cost to Microsoft of withholding Call of Duty from PlayStation would outweigh any gains from taking such action,” Martin Coleman, chair of the CMA’s panel of experts, said in a statement. “Our provisional view that this deal raises concerns in the cloud gaming market is not affected by today’s announcement. Our investigation remains on course for completion by the end of April.”
The CMA’s new report comes after Microsoft made deals with several platform holders, including Nvidia and Nintendo, promising to make Call of Duty available on them for the next 10 years, though the CMA didn’t mention those deals in its new report.
It looks like the Diablo 4 beta is bricking certain graphics cards thanks to a bug that seems similar to another MMO’s issue
It looks like the Diablo 4 beta is bricking certain graphics cards thanks to a bug that seems similar to another MMO’s issue (thanks, PC Gamer). Much like Amazon’s New World in 2021, Diablo 4 seems to be placing extra stress on processors, namely the Nvidia RTX 3080Ti and RTX 3090 Plus cards, sometimes to the point where they just stop working.
Diablo 4 players on Reddit and the Blizzard forums began experiencing the problem as soon as the first beta opened. For most of those affected, their screen went black, and their cooling fans kicked into overdrive. Some initiated a hard shutdown and tried playing again, only to have the same issue happen and their GPUs stop working completely.
It’s a distressing quirk in general and even more so considering how expensive these cards are, but most seem to agree it’s an issue with the GPUs manufactured by Gigabyte and not the game.
Replies to some Reddit posts recommended capping the framerate to avoid placing undue stress on the cards, an approach that worked with the New World problem as well. In that incident, the issue’s cause turned out to be GPUs with shoddy soldering. Running the game with an uncapped framerate exposed the flaw somehow and sent the cards into overdrive.
You can change your framerate settings from the Nvidia Control Panel on your desktop, and it might be a good idea to do it if you’re planning to try the upcoming RPG‘s open beta.
Right click on your desktop, and select “Nvidia Control Panel”
Select “Manage 3D Settings”
Toggle “Max Frame Rate” to “On”
Select your framerate. This should be no higher than your monitor’s refresh rate
Apply the settings
Restart your computer
Blizzard and Gigabyte have not acknowledged the issue yet.
Palia is a new life-sim in development from former Riot and Blizzard devs that puts a cozy spin on multiplayer games
When you think of Riot, Blizzard, and Epic Games, you probably think of fast-paced, competitive multiplayer games like Overwatch 2 and Valorant, but that’s about to change. A group of former Blizzard, Sony, Epic, Zynga, and Riot developers teamed up to form new studio Singularity 6, and their debut game is Palia, a cozy online life-sim that’s attracting quite a bit of interest.
Singularity 6 bills Palia as a magical vacation and a cooperative community builder. You play as a human – formerly a legendary species, newly returned to Palia’s fantasy world – who arrives in a secluded part of the world and decides to set up house.
Palia has all the usual things you’d expect in a life-sim, from farming to home design and detailed wardrobes, but the difference is that you don’t have to do it on your own.It’s a community building game with the spirit of Sky: Children of the Light as much as it is a life-sim, and Singularity 6 said that while you can play the free MMO solo, it’s “better together.”
The usual MMO stats are replaced with practical and social abilities, such as fishing and farming. You can make friends with the locals, team up to host an impromptu fishing contest, or just explore the wilds and come back in time for a cup of tea by the fire.
It’s an unusual premise for an online game, and it’s resonating with fans. The game has over 600,000 followers, which Singularity 6 was keen to point out is more than double the number of followers that the most wishlisted Steam games have. During the last pre-alpha playtest, participating players logged a combined total of 167,000 hours.
Palia doesn’t have a release date just yet, but Singularity 6 will be hosting more playtests in the coming months. You can sign up on the Palia website if you’re interested.
The European Union’s competition regulator delayed ruling on the Xbox-Activision deal after Microsoft proposed remedies to its concerns
The European Union’s competition regulator delayed ruling on the Xbox-Activision deal after Microsoft proposed remedies to its concerns, according to a new report from Reuters. The commission will now make its decision by May 22, 2023.
The EU filed a report saying Microsoft offered a set of potential actions that would help allay fears of harming competition in the games sector and cloud-based gaming.
The news comes after Xbox announced multiple deals with partners ranging from Nintendo and Nvidia to lesser-known platforms, such as Boosteroid. These agreements guaranteed, among other things, access to and content parity for Call of Duty and access to Xbox Game Pass games on non-Xbox cloud platforms, though the EU filing didn’t mention whether these were the remedies that convinced the EU to delay its ruling.
Sources with knowledge of the situation previously suggested the EU planned to permit the deal without requiring Microsoft to make any concessions. The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority has, so far, been the only regulatory body to suggest blocking the deal unless Microsoft sold off parts of Activision Blizzard – something Microsoft said it wouldn’t even consider.
Microsoft’s latest efforts at courting positive opinion for the Xbox Activision deal include running at least one print ad promoting it
Microsoft’s latest efforts at courting positive opinion for the Xbox Activision deal include running at least one print ad promoting it. The Verge’s Tom Warren spotted one of the advertisements in the Financial Times, which reads “Call of Duty for 150 million more players” in large black and green font.
Further down, Microsoft says this is just one of the company’s promises if the embattled merger proceeds, likely referring to its recent deal to bring the FPS game series to Nintendo consoles and pledge to make Xbox Game Pass games available on Nvidia GeForce Now.
Microsoft has placed a full-page ad in two newspapers in the UK today for its Activision Blizzard deal. "Call of Duty for 150 million more players," argues Microsoft as it pushes for its deal to be approved by UK regulators https://t.co/An7Lo465UKpic.twitter.com/PkayLYfEh8
The ads’ purpose is slightly unclear. The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority and European Union are expected to issue their final reports on the deal in April. The European Union is expected to permit the merger.
While the CMA’s initial report relied partially on consumer opinion to inform the panel’s findings, public perspective won’t play a role in determining whether the merger is approved, nor will it influence a U.S. court’s decision on the lawsuit the Federal Trade Commission filed to block the acquisition.
Sony remains unconvinced by Microsoft’s promises, though, and told regulators they believe Xbox could intentionally sabotage Call of Duty on PlayStation systems if the deal goes through.
Sony believes Microsoft’s promise for parity between Call of Duty on PlayStation and Xbox may not amount to much.
Sony believes Microsoft’s promise for parity between Call of Duty on PlayStation and Xbox may not amount to much. A court document from February, recently made public (thanks, The Verge), outlines the PlayStation maker’s concerns over how well Call of Duty might perform on the console if the Xbox Activision deal goes through, including the belief that Microsoft may introduce bugs in the game.
Sony presented its concerns in a lengthy section discussing why a “behavioral remedy” designed to hold Microsoft accountable and prevent harm to competition would be unacceptable. The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority has not proposed such a remedy, though the agency said one may be considered, depending on Microsoft’s answers to the CMA’s initial report.
The Santa Monica-based company said behavioral restrictions would only give Microsoft more room to cause harm and called for structural restrictions instead.
“Microsoft might release a PlayStation version of Call of Duty where bugs and errors emerge only on the game’s final level or after later updates,” Sony said in the document. “Even if such degradations could be swiftly detected, any remedy would likely come too late, by which time the gaming community would have lost confidence in PlayStation as a go-to venue to play Call of Duty.”
The CMA’s research into the deal turned up a statistic that showed a sizeable segment of consumers plays Call of Duty on PlayStation. Microsoft recently disputed the figure and reiterated its promise of parity on both platforms, though the Xbox maker has yet to make details of that plan public.
Sony’s other concerns include poor multiplayer performance and optimization on PlayStation, should Microsoft focus on the games’ Xbox version after launch, and the belief that Microsoft may make Call of Duty available only on Xbox Game Pass.
The CMA is expected to issue a final report in late April, along with the European Union. The EU is reportedly planning to permit the deal without requiring major concessions.
