Overwatch 2 Delays Patch Update over 'Critical Issue'

Overwatch 2's mid-season update which was expected to go live on 15th Nov has been delayed. The patch was set to bring back Mei who has been disabled in the game since 31st October while also bearing the nerf for five heroes in the game. A post on the official Blizzard Entertainment Overwatch 2 forums confirmed that the patch has been delayed due to a ‘critical issue’. Blizzard has said it will “provide an update and set the patch live as soon as the problem is addressed”. 

What does the Overwatch patch delay affect?

In the forum post Blizzard said that the patch delay would affect the bug fixes, and core content updates that are planned for this patch. The new patch was also supposed to include balance changes to heroes and resolve issues with Mei who has been disabled in the game since Halloween. An exploit caused her Ice Wall and Kiriko’s Swift Step, which let players reach locations outside the standard play area. When Kiriko teleported to a hero inside certain areas where ice wall is placed, it caused Kiriko to get placed out of bounds. A Blizzard community manager had previously said that Mei is coming back to the game with the release of the next patch on 15th November.

The Overwatch 2 mid-season patch update is now expected to go live on 17th November so players can expect to see Mei become playable soon. Blizzard stated that the delay “also impacts the delivery of Overwatch League Viewership Incentives & Perks from the Postseason matches during the period between Oct 30 - Nov 4, along with the rotation of cosmetics in the Overwatch League shop.” However, players can expect “daily and weekly challenges will reset today, as well as the standard shop refresh.”

The upcoming patch was expected to nerf Kiriko, Zarya, D.Va, Sombra and Genji. Several players are also asking Blizzard to buff a few tank heroes like Wrecking Ball and Doomfist and to nerf heroes like Moira and Sojourn. However, as of now the developer has only announced buffs to Doomfist.