Overwatch's next PTR patch will be "a little different"

The Overwatch public test realm is receiving a major patch soon, and according to principal designer Geoff Goodman, it'll be a bit different to what PTR players are used to. Whereas Blizzard has traditionally used the PTR to test fleshed out changes in a public environment, this time it'll be more experimental.

"This time around, the PTR is likely to be around a bit longer than before, so we're taking this opportunity to try out some more significant hero changes, and the push more significant iterations throughout this PTR cycle," Goodman wrote. "The PTR patch changes you guys see are unlikely to make it through PTR unchanged, unlike previous PTR cycles."

That's interesting news, and naturally enough, some are speculating that the long ARGed Sombra will rear her head in the PTR. Whether that's true or not, we do know one thing: the next patch won't usher in any changes to Symmetra, despite her viability being an ongoing topic of conversation among Overwatch players.

"There aren't any Symmetra changes for this patch," Goodman confirmed. "Her changes ended up being much more significant and require more time to finish up, but she's feeling pretty great internally so hopefully we can get her out there pretty soon."

The update and full patch notes are expected later this week.

Shaun Prescott

Shaun Prescott is the Australian editor of PC Gamer. With over ten years experience covering the games industry, his work has appeared on GamesRadar+, TechRadar, The Guardian, PLAY Magazine, the Sydney Morning Herald, and more. Specific interests include indie games, obscure Metroidvanias, speedrunning, experimental games and FPSs. He thinks Lulu by Metallica and Lou Reed is an all-time classic that will receive its due critical reappraisal one day.